


No time like the present

by Mossbeast



Category: One Piece
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Science Fiction, But now there's some angst and not just fluff, Established Relationship, Every stone is real, I've been rewatching TOS and it's showing, It's not too bad I hope, Law is an alien, Light BDSM, Light Bondage, Luffy is the same type of alien as Law but VERY different, M/M, No bad cardboard props though, Other, Sanji is a different alien, Short & Sweet, Some Suspense, Somehow Angst found my work, Stuff blows up because Strawhats, just don't expect anything overwhelming, no beta we die like men, yes there's plot
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-07
Updated: 2021-01-01
Packaged: 2021-03-07 18:53:52
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 30,350
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26882476
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mossbeast/pseuds/Mossbeast
Summary: "Which one is the soldier?""They're both soldiers, idiot.""Okay, okay, which one is the doctor?""Is there a problem, gentlemen?""N-no, no, of course not. We were merely wondering what the Heart Crew is doing on an intergalactic congress, of all places."
Relationships: Implied Nami/Nefertari Vivi - Relationship, Roronoa Zoro/Trafalgar D. Water Law
Comments: 15
Kudos: 68





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Wheeee im back! At my bullshit! Procrastinating!  
> For once I've had this idea while sober and well rested - but my brain is still worse to control than a bag of fleas so I'm not making _any_ promises concerning continuity and logic. Expect some handwaving. And forgive me!
> 
> The BDSM stuff is based off my experience with my Sir, I'm not going into depth because I'm not wholly comfortable sharing the entire range of emotions and scenes that we work through. And I haven't asked permission either so I'm toeing a line anyway.  
> What I want to make abundantly clear is:  
> This is _my_ needs and pleasures I'm reflecting. You can have entirely different experiences and thats fine, you can want something entirely different from a Dominant partner, you can be a painslut or a pleasureslut, or walk the line between both, like me. As long as it's sane, safe and consensual and you know when to leave, kink on.
> 
> If you want more info on the topic, send me a private message and I'll be glad to point you to some helpful websites. 🖤

Roronoa Zoro, bounty hunter extraordinaire and second in command to the fabled Doctor Trafalgar D. Water Law, does _not_ appreciate the prospect of the annual gala of the Intergalactic Federation.  
He even goes so far as to complain but shoves whatever he was going to say very deep down his throat when Law, smart bastard that he is, anticipates Zoro's move and tosses the bounty chip in his face before the green haired swordsman can open his mouth.

"That's enough to tide us over for two seasons", he says instead. Trafalgar Law, conniving dipshit and amazing planner that he is, just smirks. Zoro decides not to make more of a fool of himself. There's a reason why he's not the captain, after all, and it's not in the tattoos that cover his lightly tanned skin. But the very literally stamped-on marks of ownership Trafalgar Law has put on him may be part of the reasons. Possessive alien bastard. Mostly it's because, deep down, Zoro can't be bothered to take an entire crew into consideration when he charges into battle, or so he tells himself. Perhaps there's also some directional challenge strewn in, along with a hefty dose of _managing to get himself killed almost every. Damn. Time. He steps off their ship_.  
It's mostly because he doesn't want to, or so he tells himself. Trafalgar Law will mostly smirk at that and pull the bill of his hat deeper over his face to hide the mirth in his eyes.

And yet Roronoa Zoro is madly, hopelessly in love with Trafalgar Law. And Trafalgar Law is just as crazy about him, so there's definitely some balance. At least it feels very balanced when Law gets so agitated that he can't even think straight the second another non-crewmember speaks more than five words to Zoro. Because Zoro is not the most verbal person in the Intergalactic Federation. He's probably among the most nonverbal creatures in the entirety of known space. So for another person to talk to him and actually remain talking to him, they must be very persistent. And persistence... Well. Law just doesn't want anyone to be persistent with _his_ partner.  
Zoro has taken to wearing a black jumpsuit with Law's Jolly Roger right over his heart whenever they leave the ship. That, together with the fact that Law has his tattoos stamped all over Zoro and Zoro's quiet reassuring presence right behind him, just slightly to the left, help the infamous doctor keep his cool. 

Because really, no one wants a Flevant to go on a possessive-jealous rage induced rampage. The cold world they hail from makes them detached, neutral creatures that operate by the principles of logic - unless they claim a mate. Once they do, they run hot, savage needs clawing their way through their usual indifference and poise, oftentimes forcing them to retire to their home world for the rest of their lives where they live in seclusion with their partner and children. Trafalgar Law is different. He's claimed a human, something unheard of because humans, compared to Flevants, are tiny, frail, and live for what feels like a few seconds only. Nobody but the Flevants know what happens when a claimed mate dies. Perhaps it's better that way.  
For now.

It's not unusual for Zoro to end up tied to Law's bed for seventy hours straight after another person has interacted with him. Sometimes Zoro will trigger the possessive streak of his captain on purpose. Sometimes he wants to be reminded of how badly he's needed right back. Perhaps it's not all that healthy, but it works for them. And that's all that matters.

Normally, Law is a gentle lover, with great consideration of the human body's limits, but sometimes he will lose that care, leave Zoro bruised and bleeding, hurting in the most delicious way and deeply craving more. Zoro knows how to push all those buttons, knows how to trick Law into working through his anxiety before they land and take up their mission. Perhaps it leaves him walking funny for a day or two, but glimpses of his abused skin, like another, more variable set of marks of ownership, settle Law. At least for some time.

Maybe Zoro shouldn't unzip his jumpsuit so much but he enjoys a touch of fresh air and sunshine on his skin every now and then ( _always_ ).

When they finally arrive at the space station - apparently they've been officially hired as deterrents for some defective elements that have been causing trouble - everything morphs into a hectic bustle, equipment needs to be transported, high ranking officials need to be greeted. Technically they're supposed to wear Federation uniforms because of some rules but Zoro takes one good look and snorts at the order.  
Somehow poor old Bepo, one of Law's oldest crew members (and probably the only one with a diplomatic... Sinew. It's not enough for a bone), gets chosen to relay the news that none of the Polar Tang's crew will wear the regulation uniform.  
Instead, they wear black boiler suits with their Jolly Roger stitched over their hearts. Zoro frowns at that too and swiftly cuts off the arms. Law finally gives in an allows him to wear his usual black jumpsuit. It's not so different from their compromise anyway. The double win makes Zoro a lot more cocky than he usually is and Law is no doubt already planning to smack the now constant smirk off his face.  
They set up in relative peace, Law only taking Zoro into their shared quarters once after a federation captain tries to get his swordsman to talk about his adventures and join the federation.

Law bites so hard at the human's collar bone that he breaks skin and Zoro almost comes down his pants right then and there. Their coupling isn't much in the ways of what traditionally the concept of lovemaking entails but more a brutal fight that leaves them both scratched and bruised, rope marks having been cut deep into Zoro's torso, arms and legs, but once more Law has asserted and claimed what's _his_ and Zoro looks like the cat that got the canary. Perhaps he parades his captain's marks a little too smugly but Law really couldn't care less when he sees the federation captains and government officials all seize one another up to find out who got the strongest human to submit. Law smirks to himself when he remembers the fight Zoro put up in the beginning. It had been most exquisitely exhilarating, tempting to just let the captaincy be damned and hole himself up with Zoro for a few months. He hadn't done it, but sometimes it had been a close thing. His species claimed for life, and since they got much, much older than humans he felt a need to consummate their relationship much more frequently than he would have with someone of his race.  
The day their telepathic link clicked into place - something entirely unheard of to happen with a human because biologically their races were so incompatible - it had taken three of his crewmembers to pull him off Zoro.  
Humans felt _so much_.  
There was so much _need_ , so much raw desire that Law couldn't even fathom to sate, even if Zoro were to live as long as he did.

Law soon learned that human emotions change quickly. It shouldn't have been much of a surprise since they considered the time it took a fledgling to become an adolescent a _full lifetime_ , and yet it caught him off guard. A lot of things about Zoro caught him off guard.  
The human wasn't stupid, far from it, and yet whenever they went on a mission, every single plan they'd carefully made got discarded in favor of leaping after the next best fighter to test his skills. Only now that Law felt Zoro's elation at the chance to fight an unknown opponent, the tingle down his spine and the pure joy coursing through his veins, singing an ancient haka, a human war song, he couldn't quite fault his mate.

Really, human perspective added a new playful flavor to life and Law, even if he rarely admitted it even to Zoro in the privacy of their own quarters on board the Polar Tang, was all the more grateful for Zoro's insistence that they should attempt something more than just captain and second in command.

The night of the gala was nearing quickly, diplomatic talks were coming to a reluctant end, and Law found himself patrolling the corridors more often, catching bits and pieces from the talks and putting them into place in his mind. Zoro sat at the entrance of the only connecting corridor to that part of the station, silently meditating but still cutting an imposing figure. 

He was tall for a human, with thickly corded muscle covering his entire body that spoke of a lifetime dedicated to honing his skill set to a thing of perfection. Beautiful green hair atop an angular face, with one dark, smart eye that quickly could take a room apart and catalogue even the most minute detail, the other one permanently shut, covered with a pink scar. The remainder of an injury that must have bisected the other eye. A broad chest with massive scarring cutting across the well toned expanse, no one really knew how the injury had come to be and Zoro never talked about what he'd seen. Law knows, because he's privy to the deepest, darkest secrets of Zoro's mind, but he wouldn't dream of telling. Every bit of the swordsman that can be his and his alone he will greedily take.  
Just as he drinks down the soft gasps and helpless moans when they have sex he claws at the past Zoro carries around, remembers fights with enemies he's never even seen or considered a threat, celebrated every victory and felt every painful injury. But it's all _his_ now and no one can ever have that again. 

Law feels the possessiveness rear its head and he stalks over to Zoro's rigidly sitting form, with half a mind to claim him right here and now and the other half thinking to tease, to rile the human up and leave him hanging.  
Humans have a variety of very interesting sexual habits, a number of objects, sex toys, they use to make their couplings more interesting. Law has taken a liking to the practice of rope bondage and the use of cock rings. Anal plugs, vibrators and dildos could prove interesting too but he's not keen on finding out how badly he'll react to a silicone cock shoved up Zoro's ass. Only Law can touch Zoro there, because Zoro belongs to Law, body and soul, and neither of them really wants anything else there.

And Zoro, beautiful, attractive, cocky Zoro, has _a lot_ of perspective where lovers are concerned. Sometimes he remembers a past tryst, not too forcibly because he doesn't want Law to know he's been goading him into doing what Zoro wants, to give Law a hint at what he wants. And Law is a fast learner. Thank goodness. He's also as insatiable as Zoro and sometimes Zoro can't help but pity the poor Flevant that would have been Law's mate - every fertile moment would be used.

A cool hand places itself on the back of Zoro's neck and he bends his head impossibly far back, lips slightly parted and eyes dropping closed. Law bends over - how could he not? - and happily obliges the pressing _wantneedpleaseLawpleaseImissedyoucaptain_ Zoro is projecting.  
"Same here, Zoro-ya", Law mumbles against soft pink lips and is drawn back in by a spark of giddy happiness and a coil of lust caressing his mind. They remain where they are, focused on one another but also keeping an ear on their surroundings. Law pushes satisfaction and the feeling Zoro's smell after sex, with both their semen and sweat drying against his tan skin, over the link and Zoro moans into his mouth, tongue licking over pointed canines and serrated not-quite-molars. Law chases him back, biting Zoro's lip and the tingle that shoots straight to Zoro's groin has Law grind himself against his partner's back. Really, the end of today's negotiatons can't possibly come fast enough. Zoro runs his warm hands over the cold one in the back of his neck, holding the predator close to himself, closer than advisable for most creatures, but he knows intimately that there's nothing to fear from this particular man. After all, Law has quite literally placed his heart in Zoro's chest so their pain and their pleasure and everything in between can be shared. This was before the telepathic link snapped into place, so now they have a failsafe. A physical reminder that they carry each other's most vital parts, they are each other's weakness but also source of strength. Zoro couldn't have given a flying fuck about the grand romantic gestures humans threw left and right, only to drop their partner in the blink of an eye, but with _Law_ everything kind of fell into place. Because Law was everything Zoro needed and then a little more, a touch more intense, a moment longer of silence, a few Newton stronger, his sword ( _actual_ sword) a few feet longer, his intellect a tad more developed. Controlled strength and graceful agility, no hesitation to kill but only when necessary. Zoro fell fast and hard, pushing himself to excel for the unattainable creature that was his captain. Until one day, his brilliant sense of direction failing him once more, he'd slept in a brothel for lack of options (because he'd looked all over for the damn Polar Tang and she _hadn't fucking been at the space docks. Anywhere._ Law had driven his crew half mad in his desparation to find his first officer, and had, ultimately, resorted to using his race's special talent to locate the human he'd almost already fully claimed. Maybe it wasn't fair towards Zoro because he didn't know about the Flevants and their mating rituals, but he didn't sense anything other than _want_ whenever they got close enough. It had to have been enough.  
And then Zoro had been in that fucking brothel, smelling of at least twenty different sepcies' releases and Law had almost - _almost_ \- started killing everyone around them, until he'd seen the pure joy on Zoro's face for a split second. They'd barely made it back to his quarters before Law was all over the green haired human and Zoro attacked him right back, tearing at one of Law's favorite shirts. They'd barely managed to discuss the finality of their actions, between hot kisses and shreds of clothing and the odd drop of blood, before Law hungrily drank down Zoro's cum and Zoro collapsed against his captain. And life mate. 

Steps come from far down the hallway. From the other end of the space station. Nobody is scheduled to come through here for another two hours, and even then it's supposed to be the people from _behind_ them moving down the hall _in front of them_. Zoro goes perfectly still under Law, something the Flevant more than appreciates because in his experience humans _fidget_ , and Law himself straightens up. They peer down the hall, making a silent threat assessment, when they hear the voices clear enough to understand what they are saying. 

"Which one is the soldier?"  
"They're both soldiers, idiot."  
"Okay, okay, which one is the doctor?"  
They've gotten close enough for Law to send Zoro right behind them, a fancy Flevant skill that makes them extra deadly and, for most races, unpredictable in battle, especially close combat. Zoro loves it when Law lets him do the honors.  
" _Is there a problem, gentlemen?_ "  
"N-no, no, of course not. We were merely wondering what the Heart Crew is doing on an intergalactic congress, of all places." One of them stutters, heart leaping in his throat. He has curly hair and an exceptionally long nose, but otherwise is utterly human. How boring. Law pushes deeper into their link and Zoro can suddenly hear their thundering heartbeats, smell their anxious sweat (ew) and see the miniscule pupil movements of a botched attempt to silently communicate. 

"Well well", says Law, all deadly grace a he idles down the hallway. "Aren't we allowed to give our five credits to the discussions at hand?" Zoro can't help but marvel at the creature he calls _his_.

_Easy, Zoro-ya. I'm still pushing into the link._ That bastard has no right to sound so smug, Zoro informs him and Law's face splits into a massive, feral grin. The two men between them obviously don't know about their silent conversation. Which makes it all the more dangerous when one of the infamous individuals of one of the most volatile races suddenly grins at them like a maniac. Zoro doesn't pity them, although with Law specifically such a staredown and grin usually ends in previously unknown orgasmic pleasure. For Zoro. For everyone else it's more a dismemberment, fairly bloodless because Law inherently dislikes washing blood out of his clothes, and the overall mood dictates if he allows his victims to feel the pain or if they just watch how he cuts them apart meticulously. The first few times Zoro witnessed it were rather unsettling.

"No, no, of course! Uhm... I'm sure you have some special input due to your unusually long life span..."  
Law's grin grows impossibly wider and Zoro plays with the hilt of his favorite katana, preparing to assist his captain. 

"This area is restricted, gentlemen", Law says, tone entirely back to business, even if his face is still a vision of barely contained madness. "Please state your business and be on your way back to where you came from."

"We're... Uh....." the younger one starts and looks at his companion, who rolls his eyes.  
"We're the personal entourage of Miss Wednesday and Miss All Sunday. You may know them by their real names but secrecy dictates we don't disclose their real identities." The older guy, a relatively tall man with a mop of blonde hair and... _weird_ eyebrows crosses his arms. Zoro can see a set of gills flaring exasperatedly. He's probably running out of air, because there's close to zero humidity in this artificial environment.  
"We'll go through verification in our office", Law says. The blonde guy narrows his eyes.  
"We have hydropacks for you in there", Zoro offers. He doesn't like the man, something about him just rubs him the wrong way, but he's not sure it's something that's actually dangerous or just _personal_. Law smirks at him. Personal, then.  
"Follow me please", the Flevant turns on his heel and starts off towards their small office. Zoro throws another long glance down the hall and follows them at a distance. He knows Bepo and Penguin are more than capable of taking over their watch but _something_ bugs him. He just can't place it. He grips Wado a little tighter and draws it about an inch. Better be prepared.

_Everything alright?_ It's not unusual for Law to check in via link, but something about the timing just feels... Off. There's nothing he can do on a gut feeling, though, so he enters their office and signals Bepo to take over. The affirmation he receives does nothing to settle his nerves.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the wait! I'm a bit confused about the multiple chapters thingy. I'll figure it out. They call me computer challenged which... Well. Shouldn't be there. I studied programming for a while because I was bored. Nvm.   
> My babysaurus is sick so I spend more nights than usual up and about because my snotty, drooly, snoring toddler likes to sleep basically upright on my shoulder. Lots and lots of time to work this out. 
> 
> They don't call them mom guns for nothing 😏  
> \- RIP left biceps and by extension trapezius. You are missed.

Vinsmoke Sanji and Usopp really are part of the entourage of Princess Vivi Nefertari and Miss Nico Robin. But they still don't have any good reason to interrupt the diplomatic talks. At least they're not telling anything more than _we really need to speak to them_. 

Between Zoro's gut feeling and their insistence that their disturbance is necessary, Law wants nothing more than to just let them through but his orders come from higher up.

_I can try to get them to come here_ , Zoro offers. Law has half a mind to take him up on his offer when Bepo opens the door a little and peeks through the slit.  
Since the entire team work with neural transponders, Zoro and Law have a brief discussion with Bepo without ever opening their mouths. Usopp and Sanji seem more agitated by the minute, the latter basically strangling himself with the offered hydropack.

"There's going to be an attempt on the princess' life!", the young human suddenly bursts out. Zoro cocks his head and raises a single finger at Sanji, who looks as if he's about to smother Usopp.  
"It's a time-sensitive issue", Sanji says instead and glares daggers at everyone. Zoro nods.  
"Why couldn't you just have said that? We're here to keep an eye on any and all attempts to harm the present dignitaries.", Law grumbles.  
"Miss Nico had us swear on our deceased family members that we'd not breathe a word about the conspiracy we discovered, because she isn't sure yet how deep it all goes."  
"Yeah! Even the Terran World Government is in on it! But we, the brave protectors of her Highness will - oof!" Sanji slams an elbow into his companion's side and lights a new cigarette.  
So Usopp is the one they need to get alone to milk for information. Law's already mentally coordinating getting the two of them separated when the blonde man chuckles.  
"Wanna get Usopp alone? Go ahead. He's a liar. He exaggerates. Our captain knows what he's doing, even if it's unconventional at the best of times." Law narrows his eyes at the barely there insult and yells through the neural network for someone to dig up anything and everything on their captives' captain and his mission.

_Monkey D. Luffy, Age 319 Terra years  
Race: unknown, suspected Flevant with unusual power mutations  
Bounty: 400.000.000 credits for attacks on Federation ships of the naval subgroup, marine bases and causing disorder  
Known crew members: Vinsmoke Sanji (Mera), Nami (Human), Usopp (Human), Nico Robin a.k.a. Miss All Sunday (race unknown, affiliated with Alabasta royal court)  
Current affiliations: unknown, presumed contact with Princess Nefertari after prolonged reparations at the main Alabasta space dock  
Warning: extremely unpredictable, violent but no intent to kill, made a few alliances and gathered favors with neutral governments and organizations._ Ikkaku loads up into the comms.

"So. What you're meaning to tell me is that Strawhat Luffy is here not to create chaos but to prevent it", Law snorts. _What do I look like, a fool?_ , he asks Zoro, who snorts a little and absentmindedly rubs his thumb over Wado's blade.  
_I know you don't care much for gut feelings but they've kept my kind alive for millennia._ He can feel Law roll his eyes in response and sends a wave of disappointment back.  
_When have my notions ever been wrong, Law?_  
There's a huffy sigh in response and Zoro can't help but grin a little.  
"Where's Mugiwara-ya now?", Law asks. Sanji glances at Usopp for a second before sighing heavily.  
"He went after the most immediate threat."  
"And who would that be?", Zoro wants to know. They're met with double frowns and a shrug. Zoro can feel Law wanting to pull his hair out. 

"It's a group called Baroque Works, is all we know."

_Baroque Works is a group of individuals fairly skilled at infiltrating a planet government and, with use of propaganda and other, less savory methods, have overthrown several governments already, mostly for their own gain_ , Ikkaku helpfully supplies.  
_Last sighting of their leader, a man named_ Crocodile _, was three Terra months ago on Alabasta. The planet has been under strict orders to ration water due to an abnormally long dry period. Suspicions of foul play have come up, but no confirmation has been made thus far. There's hushed whispers of an internal crisis at the royal Court, the king and princess haven't been seen since the Empress died._

"The supply ship you wanted watched is from Alabasta, Captain", Bepo suddenly interjects. "The one with the faulty hyper beam. They were scheduled to cross through Little Garden territory but that's discouraged without functioning weapons, so they came here for repairs, which we can't offer until the talks are over."  
"The one that isn't supposed to be here", Zoro grumbles. "I'm out, Law. Gonna check if Mugiwara truly is as bendy as the video evidence suggests." Law nods and turns back towards Sanji and Usopp.  
"I need you to remain here while my crew get the princess and Miss All Sunday. Do you have any transmitter tech?"  
"I.. Have a hijacked neural link", Usopp says. Law sighs, technically everyone on the space station was supposed to get rid of each any communication device due to the sensitive nature of some of these talks but since the Heart Crew kept their neural comms open to operate more efficiently this might actually be useful. Also, even if he's pissed that his rules were ignored, he supposes it's understandable that, with the looming threat on Princess Vivi's life, the Mugiwara-Crew would keep at least one comm link in case of an emergency.  
"I'll see if it's safe, if no we'll upgrade you for now."  
"We work with gamma frequency", Sanji says. Law is surprised. Gamma frequency is probably the safest way to communicate instantly over far distances, and most crews only ever work with double encrypted alpha or beta frequency. Even the fucking _government and federation_ only work with encrypted beta. Granted, they change their cipher regularly, but that's pretty fucking useless once you know which twelve ciphers they cycle through. And by now there's no pirate crew that doesn't know how to listen in on the ships that hunt them. There are entire channels dedicated to announcing updated bounties - something that's supposed to stay far away from the pirates themselves, lest the galaxy go up in an all out war of pirates versus pirates.   
Instead, bounty hunters started cropping up and pirates ranked themselves by their bounties, comparing and boasting and _celebrating_ when certain thresholds were passed.   
So, sticking to alpha and beta frequencies is mostly a thing of comfort; gamma frequency tech is fairly expensive and needs quite a lot of maintenance. Ikkaku calls them _finicky_. But Law doesn't care, his engineer is among the best and they have the money, because Zoro is a bounty hunter at heart. The Strawhats, however, are known for their _unique_ approach to careful planning and cyber security, which is to say that, to outsiders, it appears nonexistent. Perhaps this is all some front after all. Law, despite himself, feels intrigued.

It's a short task to connect Usopp to the public channel and after test messages are sent and received, Law and Bepo leave the office to get the two dignitaries.  
Princess Vivi is every bit as beautiful and fierce as they rumors say. Her companion, Miss All Sunday, is fucking creepy. She's capable of true telekinesis, a trait thought extinct in the galaxy. She looks oddly human, although her face is just disproportionate enough to betray her as non-human.  
But that's what makes her so dangerous, Law supposes. She's human enough to pass as such but definitely much stronger than those she uses to hide. 

Sanji basically falls to his knees to worship the two dignitaries and Usopp looks a lot less constipated. Law chuckles at Bepo's ongoing commentary.

"Alright, in the common interest of saving Miss Wednesday, we should probably head to your ship", Law announces. Miss All Sunday shakes her head.  
"They'll expect us to do that because that's protocol. To best them, we must do the unexpected."  
"Miss All Sunday, as _brilliant_ as ever!!!", Sanji swoons. Is that guy for real?! He's acting like a dork. He's supposedly from a planet that doesn't allow for weakness. Atlantis is cold, on the outskirts of the influence of a dying star, with no life other than those who hunt to support themselves. The ice that now constantly covers the vast oceans of Atlantis doesn't allow for plant life any more and the small continental landmasses are a barren wasteland, save for the two aquadomes located at the slightly warmer south pole and the main space port at the equator. It's only a matter of decades until Atlantis becomes uninhabitable but the Mera ignore that. They don't believe they can ever relocate to another planet, and perhaps it's better that only individuals who wouldn't thrive in the harsh ice world of kill or be killed ever step foot onto space vessels. Another warring species might just ruin the delicate balance that has been achieved.

Miss All Sunday musters Law, her distinctive face entirely unexpressive, and takes her purple hat off. It has a wide brim that helps cover her unusual features and probably allows her to blend in better on Terra, but here on the space station she stands out like a sore thumb.  
"The Polar Tang is docked close, ne?"  
Law understands where she wants him but he's not so sure he wants to drag the upcoming conflict onto _his_ ship. Princess Vivi plays with one of the actual ink pens, no, she's writing something on her fingers and letting Usopp scan it. 

_I noticed, Captain. I'm on it._ Bless Ikkaku and her constant monitoring. She might be utterly useless in anything close combat but you can't sneak a single errant brain wave past her.  
"The Polar Tang isn't equipped to handle combat, Miss All Sunday. What if, instead, you take over the insurgents' vessel?"  
Sanji stops fawning over the ladies and turns to Law with a deadly glare. "Luffy's going for their ship. _Your Blade_ is going for their ship. That's too much destructive force leveled at one tiny vessel."  
Alright, perhaps the Mera has a point. Zoro will probably make a contest out of removing the threat. From what is reported, Mugiwara-ya will most likely go along with the contest. He's fairly simple minded for such a notorious captain. Then again, the Strawhat Crew seems very keen on being underestimated. They practically tore Arlong, the Menace of the Eastern Quadrant apart with only half the crew on board. Even Law had been impressed at that feat. 

"The Polar Tang it is", Law says and sends out orders to prepare the guest quarters. Bepo takes up residence in the hallway again to resume his watch.

For all the noise Usopp and Sanji made when they first came, the Strawhat crew is now eerily silent. They move with silent grace many Flevants would be hard pressed to achieve, let alone humans who generally have a much harder time keeping still. Humans aren't predators, they never had to silence their existence in order to feed. 

_Recipient is on board the Strawhat vessel, which is listed as a Federation dignitary transport, dock section 23, gate 857. I can't get a read on who is receiving though._

"What about your friend on your ship?", Law asks nonchalantly.  
"Nami-saaan! She will be fine, Nami-san is such a strong fighter!", Sanji crows. Law can understand why Zoro doesn't like him at all. Princess Vivi smirks and nods, and Usopp just sort of shrugs.  
"Besides, I've left the most cunning traps! Baroque Works'll have to get through me before they ever reach Nami", Usopp adds, smiling proudly. So he is the infamous snapper, he notes. Ikkaku updates their database and sends Law a small thank you and _can you keep them talking_.  
He feels into his link with Zoro, but the swordsman has gotten fairly good at shielding. Either he's focused because it's fun or he's focused because, for once, he's really forced to think before he acts and unleashes hell on Baroque Works.   
They complete the trek down near identical hallways to the dock where the Polar Tang rests in silence. Law had tried to pry more information from everyone but Miss All Sunday had quickly drawn a stop to it.   
"He's trying to goad us into giving out more information", she'd smirked and that had shut up everyone really fast. Once they boarded the vessel, the princess sags from her stiff posture and Miss All Sunday carefully embraces her. Law melts into the familiar shadows of his home and leans against the cold walls to watch.   
"It's alright", she says. "Nami will be fine."  
"Promise?" That sounds suspiciously like a sob.  
"When hasn't she been? She's a scrapper, she finds a way. I have utmost confidence in her abilities."

The princess only grabs her companion's shirt tighter and sobs heartwrenchingly. Usopp pats her shoulder and Sanji rolls his shoulders, looking around the small airlock. Law straightens up and steps back into the light.  
"Once you're done, I will show you to your quarters. They function as an emergency capsule and can manage one quantum jump of 874 light years. You have to enter your desired location while the capsule is still connected to the main ship, though. I suggest you do it now. The computers are a little slow since we rarely use them. Once you've arrived at your destination or as close as possible, depending on where you start out, the capsule will emit an emergency beacon with federation dignitary signature. Do try not to land in criminal territory", he smirks. Sanji nods and Miss All Sunday seizes him up again. He's bordering on irritated when she smirks and says: "Luffy would like you. And you would hate him."

They flock after him eagerly, Usopp chattering about how he will improve the capsule for everyone until Ikkaku's voice cuts around the corner: "If even a single screw isn't bolted as tight as I left it I will kill you. And I will use either Zoro's katana or captain's nodachi."  
It's sort of fun to see a grown man with a bounty that no one would sneeze at shake in fear. At least the princess stopped crying and instead draped herself over the couch that takes up the middle of the room. Miss All Sunday shoos her other crew members deeper into the room and leans towards Law. 

"I'm pretty sure you're having someone do research on us. Let me level with you, before misunderstandings crop up. Both the princess and I are known members of Baroque Works. We decided to infiltrate the organization when they first showed up on Alabasta promising rain after the first year of drought. It was too coincidental to be a fluke. Government officials who wanted to approach the federation for help suddenly fell ill or disappeared, disabling the Empress and weakening her claim to the throne.  
Then she died. Miss Vivi approached me, together with the captain of the royal guard, to help them fly under the radar for a while until they managed to infiltrate the organization. Little did they know that I had already planned the same and was partner to Mister 0, who you might know as the war criminal Crocodile." She pulls her hat off again and plays with the brim.

"You're capable of true telekinesis", Law says in lieu of a thanks.  
"We all have our talents", she smirks.  
"Keep your secrets then", he answers and turns to walk away.   
"My name is Robin. I'm head spy to the court of Alabasta. The well-being of the planet and its inhabitants is my prime loyalty."  
Law smirks and nods as he walks away. Time to find his swordsman and Nami. And perhaps Mugiwara-ya.

He makes his way down to the dignitaries' docks when suddenly a massive explosion shakes the space station and smoke starts wafting up the corridor he's been following.  
Never mind Zoro ( _always_ mind Zoro). Time to escort some frightened politicians.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh goodness. Holy fucking hell.
> 
> The author of one of my favorite fanfics left me kudos I'm. Oh gods. Save me. I'm a mess. 
> 
> I'M NOT WORTHY. And my anxiety spiked again (this is why I normally write one shots and one shots only).


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So. Remember when I said I was tech-stupid?  
> Yeah? Good.  
> Because I forgot how to add a chapter to an existing story, and instead of _looking it up_ like any normal humanoid, I distracted myself from the evident failure and forgot. 
> 
> _Unitinators procraste?_
> 
> In my defense, I'm teetering on the edge of sensory and emotional overload and subsequent shutdown (thanks, adhd, autism, I don't like you, you make life miserable), and I managed to throw out my spine between Atlas and mid-thorax by sleeping (I am _that_ good), and the limited range of movement is eating at me.
> 
> Thank _fuck_ I'm not working atm. I'd probably throw oxygen bottles or midazolam at people, no in-between. I am fucking done rn.  
> The next chapter might take a while, even if it's pretty much done. I'm not happy with it but don't have the mental capacity for a complete rewrite.

Why do the fucking halls always look the same on space stations?  
_Because space stations are commonly assembled from preproduced units that can be added interchangeably, depending on the desired layout and functionality._ Sometimes he really wishes Ikkaku didn't listen in on him constantly. It's annoying. He's an adult, his thoughts belong to him alone and - 

_Take a left here, Zozo._

\- and he'd be totally lost without her. He can't not admit it. She leads him down the sterile halls unfailingly, dryly commenting on his apparently horrid situational awareness - _Ikkaku, I've already passed by the door with the room number twice! Ikkaku, I think we're lost!  
Dumbass. All the doors here have room numbers. Haven't you been paying attention to your surroundings? How the fuck do you fight with three swords and still stand there living and breathing when your awareness is so awful?!_ \- and leaving the forefront of his brain once he draws close enough to Mugiwara to actually hear him.

"Gum gum slingshot!!!", a youthful voice yells and in response there's the slapping of bare skin and pained grunts, seconds later something crashes quite dramatically. Zoro is itching to join the scuffle, it's been too long since he last could go all out in a fight because Law prefers his bounties to be alive for drop-off.

It sounds like a lot of fun around that corner. 

He sends a warm feeling toward Law and then blocks the bond as much as he can. This is _his_ fight, he will tell Law later but for now he wants the struggle to be his alone. Victory will belong to Zoro, without having to rely on the superior Flevant attributes Law subconsciously pushes onto him whenever the link is open. He knows it's not because Law thinks him weak, that's as far from the truth as possible, otherwise he wouldn't be sent off with nothing but a smirk and a tiny nod, it's just purely instinctual for Flevants to protect their mate. Regardless, Zoro sort of hates it. He built a reputation for himself before he became Law's blademaster and he has that reputation to uphold.

He bellows into the hall: "Oi, are you down there, Strawhat Luffy?"  
A weird laugh and an affirmation drift back over the constant crashing and grunting. Zoro readjusts his grip on his swords, rolls his shoulders and dashes into what looks like a proper Terra Worldwar One battlefield. Doors are crashed through, hanging loosely on their hinges, broken around the locks and sometimes the entire metal frames are dented and torn out of the walls, twisted into death traps instead of simple passageways. Desks, chairs, sofas, armoires, lamps, plants, tables, dressers, historic chests, transport crates, it seems like anything and everything that wasn't bolted to the space station had been removed from the rooms along the hall to create a blockade. It's a thing of beauty, really, Zoro muses, how all these pieces of furniture have been reduced to wreckage that couldn't even stop a toddler.

He whistles appreciatively through his teeth when he sees a level 5 cargo crate, a containment unit strong enough to block the natural occurring shifts in quark and other subatomic particle levels so that incredibly unstable elements like amber lead, antimatter or dance powder can be stored and transported safely, totally wrecked stuck in the wall. It looks like someone took the crate and balled it together as easily as thin aluminum sheets before tossing it aside carelessly, but Zoro knows that what looks like fragile glass is actually a simultaneously gelatinous and harder than diamond substance that keeps the twelve thin seastone rods, that secure the transport goods firmly in the middle of the crate, in place, all the while shielding simple radiation, temperature, sound and humidity fluctuations, impacts of any kind, telepathic waves, sound waves, pressure, quantum particle leaks and pretty much anything else. Short of creating a transport dimension, a fairly new discovery that is still widely unavailable, level 5 cargo crates are the safest way to transport volatile goods.

_Even Law, with his _Room_ and _Shambles_ skills, can't cut into these crates. Zoro isn't even sure what they're made of. Whatever it is, it makes for one hell of a security cushion. He knows the fabled Gold Roger, first human to gain notoriety in outer space for his acts of piracy, is supposed to have covered his ship with the stuff, making him invincible.  
The ship is a legend, unbested in combat even against a massive armada of federation war cruisers. The only reason Gold Roger has been captured is because he allowed it.  
After his incarceration, 75% of Terra's inhabitants left the planet in order to explore the vast nothingness that is the home of everything alive.  
The small, blue planet, that had been on the verge of an ecological collapse, had bloomed into a green oasis among the technologically advanced planets of other societies and people's, and humans now held their rather simple home world in high regards. Despite being so underdeveloped in everything technology, they harbored great pride for their ability to just piece together different types of tech to develop their own, unique progress that, for many races, seemed like a good rendition of an old Terra entertainment medium._

_More often than not they were deep within dark grey territory concerning the Intergalactic Peace Convention with their experiments, but by value of only using established tech for science and not actively researching weapons technologies, no one felt the need to stop them. Besides, their almost childlike approach to research - _just plug it together and see what happens_ \- often yielded unexpected, yet impressive and most importantly useful results (such as the transport dimension), that more often than not refuted _proven_ knowledge about the comings and goings of the universe that had been scientific consensus for _centuries_. When Terra, and with it humanity, had entered the Galactic Federation, many feathers had been ruffled. And then they'd garnered the favor of the Flevants for something small - to humans, at least - and suddenly a human sat in the president's chair, ruling over war and peace, life and death matters with the incomparable shortsightedness and happy-go-lucky attitude that, in all of the known galaxies, only humans could muster._

There was another, exceptionally loud crash and a boyish figure stepped out of a cloud of dust and fine debris, hand comfortably in the universal sign that meant anything from _hi, how are you?_ to _I come in peace despite our circumstances_. Zoro fumbles his katana between his upper arm and ribcage and wrangles his hand to respond in kind. Strawhat Luffy smiles brightly. "You're the security team, ne? Robin told us all about you, you're so cool!"

Somehow, it seemed really far fetched that this boy should have a 400,000,000 credit bounty.

Zoro has seen footage of the disaster this kid creates. He's standing amid the havoc he has wrought, _and yet_ he seriously doubts that this happy little kid, excited to meet a person that got famous by doing illegal things but to people who do more illegal things and most importantly, the things were done for the government so it's sort of okay, is truly worth his bounty. 

Strawhat Luffy looks fucking _innocent_. 

Zoro isn't sure he could lift any of his swords against him, ever. 

"I hear you're smoking out Baroque Works. Mind if I join you?" Zoro settles for a non-answer. Apparently Law is contagious.  
"Shishishi, not at all! Once we're done here Vivi promised that we could get some food from the finest Federation cooks! We want to see if Sanji compares, you're invited too!"  


Even amidst the havoc Strawhat Luffy had wrought, it seemed impossible that this beaming smile could hide the ability to cause pure chaos and destruction.  
And that was saying something standing in the middle of a crumbling space station.

Further down the hall someone yells order's to form defenses and prepare for a counter attack, and all it takes Zoro to follow a child into battle is a smirk and a tiny nod.

 _Law will have his hide for this._ No plan, no clue on Strawhat's abilities, no idea _where_ he's headed to. The delicious tingle of anticipation gets his blood pumping and when the first Baroque Works soldiers arrive, he finds himself laughing in joy at the split second decisions he needs to make.  
"Not good enough!" Zoro's voice echoes down the halls, together with the metallic singing of his blades slicing through soft skin and body armor alike, ripping and tearing fabric and tendons alike, painting the walls and Zoro's face.  
Some of the soldiers freeze in terror when he emerges on them, Law's Blade in all his demonic glory, others turn tail and run. None of them stand when he passes them. For a second he mourns the fact that the battle won't show on his clothes, no blood staining his jumpsuit, soaking from the soft fabric into his skin. Oh well.  
Penguin hated his white shirt with a passion because somehow, he always ended up on laundry duty when Zoro returned from a mission drenched from head to toe in blood and gore. So, black had been the compromise. At least the permanent stains of some races' entrails didn't show on the black fabric after washing.

Strawhat Luffy leads Zoro to the service docks, and on to the ship that shouldn't be here. But it's devoid of any life. They search every damn deck, Zoro even squeezes into the crawlspaces that, he knows from personal experience, are wonderful places to store smuggling goods and he's heard of illegal slave transports in crawlspaces. Nothing.  
Zoro spits on the ground and they exit the ship, turning towards the Strawhat's ship.  
Something feels wrong to Zoro, but he can't pinpoint it. Surely there must be more Baroque Works agents and soldiers lurking. No one attacks during a congress with just a handful of barely trained foot soldiers and expects success. Even Luffy has shifted his devil may care attitude into something slightly more alert. On first glance he still seems as carefree as ever but Zoro has trained in martial arts since he was a mere child. He sees the tense set of the infamous captain's jaws and knows how to read it. Luffy is worried, even if his nakama had been convinced that there was no reason to.

They board Luffy's ship and that's where everything goes to shit.  
It takes Luffy all of two seconds to determine that something is incredibly wrong and Nami is _gone_ , but before Zoro can ask Ikkaku to track the Strawhat navigator's frequency, he finds himself trapped in something white and hard. His katana can't even scratch it.  
"Oi, Luffy! What the fuck is this? Is this your sapper's doing?!"  
Luffy shakes his head, pushing his hat deeper into his face. This can't be happening. Zoro is about to open the link and ask Law for advice when a weird shaped, vaguely humanoid figure steps forth.  
"My name is Mister Three and you've crossed a line. We've come to remove any and all hindrances to the great plan. And you two have become quite the nuisance." The figure laughs and steps out of the shadow. Zoro growls deep in his throat, he _knows_ this freak. And his weird racial traits.  
The people of Veks have evolved a unique ability that allows them to morph into the main substance of their planet to move more quickly across the frankly massive planet and defend themselves easily.

Veks is close to a super massive black hole, and constantly barraged with intense gamma radiation, which forced the people living on it to adapt quickly to the ever changing nature of their home world. It's a cold place with arbitrary shifts in gravity, density and living conditions. The only thing these people truly fear is fire, Zoro recalls, but he can't even move his arms to hope for creating a spark.  
"Luffy, how much can you move?"  
"My left arm is still free. Why?"  
"Can you spark a flame?"  
Luffy states at him like he's grown a second head. _Mister Three_ drones on about the superiority of his criminal mastermind.  
"He's from Veks. They fear fire", Zoro hisses. A smile blooms across Luffy's face - how the fuck did he manage to raise a 400,000,000 credit bounty to his name - and suddenly, with a rubbery twang, his left arm extends and grabs one of the wall panels, just to tear it off. Then he yanks out some of the circuitry and is about to connect it in a way that will _definitely_ cause some sparking, when he stops dead in his track. His arm droops to the floor, as does his head, and he starts mumbling about his choice and free will.

"Fucking hell. Luffy, get your shit together!", Zoro roars.  
_Mister Three_ laughs, it's a horrible, annoying sound that makes Zoro grind his teeth and raise his hackles. It's a sound that calls out bloodlust and vengeance. And perhaps a few stupid ideas.  
At first, it's just a dumb fantasy.  
Cutting off his feet and walking on the stumps of his legs to slam his sword through the Veksian. He wouldn't survive the blood loss, probably. He'd pass out from the pain, definitely.  
But after five seconds of being stuck, Luffy trapped in some mind fog, it gets more difficult to not see the clear advantage of offing this guy. After all, they have to find Nami too.

 _Law will reattach his feet and then fucking kill him._ Somehow the thought raises a giddy feeling and Zoro thinks _fuck it_ and starts hacking away at his ankles. Of all the stupid things he's done, this probably takes the cake. There's a litany of _Law_ , Law, Law, Law will fix it, the feeling of Law's lips against various body parts, the sharp, stinging pain of a crop, the delicious burn of a Flogger, all the pains Law puts him through but they don't compare to _this_. Because cutting through his own bones at a suboptimal angle is the single most stupid, painful thing he's ever done and suddenly, suddenly a female voice yells: "are you insane?!"  
Zoro lifts his head and sees a relatively tall human girl with bright ginger hair and what looks like complicated, probably painful neural transplants all around her temples, ears and neck, being dragged by a much smaller girl. Who is deceptively strong. Something is off.  
"She's Arvasin! Stop whatever you're doing, this isn't your choice!"  
Zoro looks down at the blood steadily flowing out of his body and the katana stuck in his shin bone. Is it perhaps really their doing?  
Arvasin have strong mental abilities, they split up into clusters that form massive hiveminds, the more single identities merge into a hivemind, the stronger the cluster becomes. They feed on brainwaves and thus have always been a slaving and conquering race. The Federation had fought long and hard to contain the Arvasin, which at the time of their discovery only existed within six bodies.  
Zoro can feel the press of her mind on his, but she's not in his head. Law's shielding technique, together with Ikkaku's implanted reinforcements, hold steady. She probably locked herself out to protect him, it occurs to Zoro, which is why she didn't yell at him for entertaining the notion of cutting off his feet. Huh.  
She must have noticed the presence of a strong telepathic race and called all shots. 

Ikkaku is many things, but not stupid. That trait is his and his alone among the Heart Crew.  
Probably that's why he's caught in a run of the mill trap and couldn't form any solution other to cutting his damn feet off.  
_Law really is going to kill him if he makes it out alive._ And Zoro would be deserving of every second of pain his captain can come up with.  
"She's got Luffy", he growls at the ginger. She nods and continues her struggle against the Arvasin, who looks entirely undisturbed. Perhaps he can start a mental counter to free Luffy, even for a split second.  
Ikkaku taught Zoro how to detect transmission waves. He can only find transmissions by tech, though, since humans have no natural attunement to mental connections. But since Nami is human, it should be enough.  
Only, the Arvasin hivemind seems to fill every damn corner of the entire goddamn space station. They're blocking every transmission. Perhaps Ikkaku didn't lock herself out after all. 

Nami and the Arvasin get closer, it's obvious the communicator and navigator of the Strawhat crew is taken off the ship, but to what extent? It doesn't matter. If she gets close enough so that he can touch her, perhaps even with his sword - he's really hoping that Bepo's theory on metal objects as artifical neutral network connectors holds any practical application - they can work this out. He thanks every known deity in the explored universe that Baroque Works are the most fucking arrogant bunch of criminals he's ever encountered. Without doing anything, Nami brushes against his hand and Zoro uses the split second to connect to her neural network. He's nowhere near as gentle or skilled as Ikkaku, or Law, or literally anyone else on his crew and Nami's face scrunches up in pain, but he needs to get this done quickly.

_Did you just fucking hijack my network?!_

_Yeah, sorry. Don't know how long this will hold, I can feel the hivemind chewing at the connection. They've got Luffy. Can you knock them out? I'll start my own attack, all we need is for Luffy to have a split second of time to connect those cables._

_You're sensitive to the mental plane, huh? Unusual. Bonded?_

_I thought that was common knowledge. Can you attack her or no?_

_It's mostly rumors, but people say you're mated to Trafalgar D. Water Law. Flevants have mental bonds with their mates. So I can assume that you've truly transcended the human race? And yes, we can do that. But we need to get closer to Mi-ister Thr-ree-eee._

The Arvasin is strong. Fucking hell. They'll have to eyeball their attack, since he's not sure the connection will hold once Nami and the Arvasin are close enough to the Veksian for him to hold back on his counterattacks.  
Zoro is just glad that the nature of Arvasin doesn't allow them to slip in over neural network interfaces. Any other mentally advanced race would probably pose a little more of a problem.  
For all their flaws, humans had always proved the best weapon against Arvasin. Their poor, basically non-existent neural connection abilities handicapped Arvasin attacks and made them futile. Zoro thanked the lucky stars.

 _I don't mind people knowing but please don't go around broadcasting our bond. Don't want half the galaxy hunting me for my somehow evolved human brain._ He thinks after a second. 

_Don't wo-orry, i-infor-ormation a-always ha-as a p-pr-rice. I ha-ave m-myyy...... ... ow-... ....... .... -rets. -o...... ... -ou c-c... ... -py?_

_About half of it. Attack when I drop my sword. Copy?_

_C-..........._

Static. Zoro just has to hope that she'd understood the gist of what he was saying. He prods at the presence of the hivemind, carefully seeking out weak spots within the presence. Nothing.  
But then again, the mind is the greatest part of the Arvasin. Some clusters entirely forfeit their bodies in favor of just running rampant on the mental plane.  
Perhaps he's looking at this wrong. He's not looking at a single entity but probably several hundreds of individuals. Maybe he can gain leverage by withdrawing a few out of the cluster. He shrinks his presence and starts _looking_.  
Ikkaku had told him to paint himself a picture when he'd first started to connect to the mental plane. 

_Imagine an ocean. All the different fish are all the different species that inhabit or at least use the mental plane. The stronger their mental skills, the larger they appear._

Perhaps he just needs to treat a hivemind the same way? He glares at the vast presence, dominating every inch of space he can access with its oily, sickly, viscous embodiment. The Arvasin feels like a massive oil spill in the otherwise clean ocean. No wonder the Federation harbors such resentment and fear towards them. He tries to focus on the dynamic of the hivemind. Tries to listen into it. There are screams, pained and tearful, mocking voices, jeering and teasing, genuine laughter and devoid of emotion observations. It's a gamble which minds will be swayed. And Zoro hasn't ever been lucky with gambles.

He turns to look if anything stands out. But that'd be too simple. So, for lack of other options - Law would probably find at least seven other approaches that are all more sensible than what Zoro's about to do - he just yanks at the closest single conscience and tries to overpower it.  
The constant howling and screeching rises to a crescendo and then suddenly drops eerily silent, as every single aspect of the presence focuses on him. Oh fuck. 

He _really_ hopes his physical body dropped the katana. He's never bothered properly training on the mental plane because he has Zoro and Ikkaku for that. Besides, his strength is purely physical. Oh _fuck_. 

Part of the presence twists on itself and roars up to tower over him, before it parts and the dominant conscience steps forth. 

"Ballsy", they comment. "A human attacking me on my own turf. But I've heard of you, and at least I can now confirm that you have a deathwish. Boss'll be pleased."  
"You mean Crocodile? He's got it coming. Abusing the power and rank of Shichibukai", he _hates_ how he stumbles over the foreign word, "for his own gain no less!"

"Who? Mister Zero is no Shichibukai, you human fool. His identity is secret and his plans will not be foiled. Now _your_ plans, on the other hand, are nothing but dust in the wind. Because we are _superior_."

He feels a flicker of Nami and steels himself. They're doing this. Since the mental plane is all about imagination, Zoro imagines his swords. And because he can, one is drenched in shadows, another in fire and the last one freezes the atmosphere around it. He can be creative, just usually chooses not to.  
The Arvasin snorts. "You do realize that I can negate whatever flimsy conviction you manage to summon?"  
"Tch. Fight me", he shoves one hilt between his teeth and bites down around it. "Talk about your strength once I am _down_."

The single conscience roars and morphs into a creature with massive black claws and a giant set of jaws full of crooked, black teeth. Saliva drips over its thin lips and down its chin, and then it swipes at Zoro. Zoro dodges, barely, because _fuck_ this thing is incredibly fast. He adjusts his grip and counters, but it deflects his swords easily. Zoro grits his teeth and prepares his stance for another attack, when suddenly two more creatures appear, and force him to take up a more defensive posture. He can't give up now. He needs to distract them long enough to lose their grip on Luffy. And if that means he needs to get reckless, then that's what he'll do. 

He roars out his frustration and annoyance and charges, despite the less than favorable circumstances. The Arvasin hesitates for a second, probably doubting his sanity, and that moment is enough for Zoro to burrow the ice sword deeply in the first creature's chest. White frost spreads all over its body before the creature roars, weak and almost scared, before it shatters. Suddenly, there's a shift in the hivemind. Everything stills and falls deathly silent. It's like the consciences don't know what to do once the dominant mind is gone.

 _Is it truly gone?_ Or is it just incapacitated? 

Suddenly, with a cacophony of shrieks and wails, the incredible mass of minds turns on itself and Zoro finds himself forcibly catapulted out of the mental plane.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lowkey looking for a beta reader, BTW. My go-to person is busy..
> 
> Also im splitting this chapter up because, quite frankly, it is ridiculously long. Enjoy the first part 🖤


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Part two of the Zoro-chapter 😉
> 
> Also, sorry for the late upload but I noticed a mistake in the description of.. Things. I don't want to spoiler. Ah fuck it I'll put it in the end notes. Enjoy!

The first thing he feels is _pain_. From his legs, where he cut into his bones, and from _fire_. He can see Luffy crack his knuckles before charging at the Veksian and the collapsed body of the Arvasin, yelling something Zoro can't quite hear over the ringing in his ears. Nami rips the shackles that bind her wrists apart and makes a start towards Luffy, grabbing him by the bright red vest he wears.

"Zoro! We need to leave now!", she yells over the comms. He stumbles after her, fighting to get the bandana he keeps wrapped around his arm off and tearing it in half for a makeshift compression bandage for his self inflicted injury.  
They haven't made it very far when two more people, obviously agents of Baroque Works, stop them with a giant explosion and tittering laughter.

They introduce themselves as Mister Five and Miss Valentine, and Nami rattles off bounties. Zoro can work with that, even if the bounties hold no interest for him. 

Fighting Mister Five is an experience for itself, because he's entirely combustable, it seems.

 _Visphot, you idiot. Bepo calls them combustion men_ , Ikkaku says. Zoro nearly sobs with joy to hear her voice.  
_You need to be careful, Zoro. Your heart rate is severely elevated and I'm reading a lot of pain receptors firing. What did you do?_

_Nothing too bad. I'll survive, although I'll need stitches._

Ikkaku hums and thankfully doesn't comment any further. Zoro and Luffy fight surprisingly well together, all things considered, and it doesn't take them long to take the two Baroque Works agents out.

Nami cheers them on and even manages to move them along when they get carried away. 

"We still need to figure out what their ultimate goal is", she says. "Ro- Miss All Sunday isn't privy to all aspects of the operation. We only know she's supposed to stick to Vivi at all times, and we hacked the location transmitter she had gotten implanted. Since Crocodile is a fan of go big or go home, I don't want to imagine what collateral he's prepared in case things go south."  
Luffy looks at her like she's asked him to solve the world's most elaborate riddle, but Zoro gets it. If Baroque Works goes down like those fair few criminal endeavors of Crocodile's that failed, it'll go with a boom. And even if Baroque Works doesn't manage to gain control over an entire planet after today, obliterating the peace conference where most notable world leaders, peace workers, aid organizations and a few important clan dignitaries would cause enough chaos for him to dig his claws into and abuse the power vacuum for his own means of corruption.  
"What kind of failsafe are we looking for? A virus, a biohazard, an actual army?"  
"Something flashy. Regardless of the outcome, this is Crocodile's big comeback after eight years of being assumed dead."  
"Explosives, then."  
Nami nods, face grim. "Luffy, where's Chopper?"  
"Oh.. Him? Didn't we leave him on Drum or so? Because he wanted to catch up with the witch doctor?" Luffy rubs his nose and stares at the ceiling.  
"No good", Nami says with a heavy sigh. "How do we sniff out the explosives then?"  
"We don't. We find them the good, old fashioned way", Luffy answers with a huge grin and takes off in a random direction.  
"Oi, Luffy. We better split up", Zoro says, pointing in the opposite direction.  
"Aye", Luffy yells over his shoulder and disappears around the corner. Nami bows curtly and follows her captain. Zoro is surprised at the amount of loyalty this brat inspires, even if he's the most chaotic force in the universe.

Perhaps that 400,000,000 credit bounty isn't too farfetched, after all. 

With a grin, Zoro moves down the hallway he selected _on a whim_ , he can see Law shaking his head at this randomness and totally unfounded decision making, and looks for anything out of place. He's reasonably certain that the service dock with the insurgents' ship is this way, and a hunch tells him that, whatever Crocodile has planned, it's got to do with the transport vessel.

 _Take a right_ , Ikkaku says. _The service docks a-aaaaa-....._ and just like that there's radio silence again. Zoro feels for any of his neural connections, but nothing.  
Law's heart, however, is still steadily beating in his chest. At least Law is fine. Zoro calms himself to the Flevant's steady heartbeat and moves on towards the service docks. He doesn't like being cut off from his team but he'll just have to make double time and finish his search early, so that he can go check on his teammates.

He moves down the hall, hyper alert and focusing on every sound, but there's nothing. No noise, no movement. Just a loose wall panel and green dust trickling out of the insulation - _a loose wall panel_.  
Zoro couches in front of it and studies the slot where the insulation has carefully been removed, but sloppily replaced.  
_Looks like we disturbed something alright._  
It's short work to carefully pull out the remaining insulation and with the help of his katana pry the wall panel from its connecting sockets. What he sees let's his blood run cold. 

Zoro is by no means an expert on weapons technology, but he knows a dirty nuclear fission bomb when he sees one.  
Careful not to create any sparks, Zoro removes the other wall panels. About two thirds of the hall, starting at the entrance of the service docks, have already been prepared.  
Dance Powder, a controlled substance that binds hydrogen - originally used by a few desert worlds to build up clouds from aerosol water molecules - by some reaction creates the heavier isotopes deuterium and tritium, which are important for fission bombs. The Federation has made gratuitous use of the weaponized use of Dance Powder, hence the iron tight control on production and stores. Add a little explosive - any kind will do - and some gamma radiation, et voila. Dirty fission bomb.  
Add the insane amount of plutonium and other reactor elements from the dignitaries' ships, and the entire space station will create a blast that will return everything to particle dust in a two light year radius.  
_Of course the comms are out._  
Zoro wracks his brain for a solution to diffuse this, because the way the explosives have been already mixed in with the Dance Powder, after a certain point in time the Dance Powder will have created enough hydrogen isotopes to kickstart the massive blast. It seems as though Crocodile hasn't planned to get out of this. Zoro runs down the service docks and slams through one of the storage unit doors, hoping to find _anything_ sturdy enough to contain at least 85% of the mix. He finds two level five crates, and a couple of lower level crates. They have to do.  
He drags them out into the halls and sweeps the powdery mix into the containers, filling them over maximum and then carefully hauling them back to the insurgents' ship. It's not enough. He goes through the ship, but all he finds are a few hammocks and pillow cases. If need arises, he guesses, and drags them out. 

His hands burn from the acidic explosive that Baroque Works uses, and he seriously hopes it contains no phosphorus because once his skin gives enough to bleed, the reaction will start and there's no stopping it.  
Dance Powder is 15x more potent once burned, and the massive influx of Deuterium and Tritium will instantly end every life form aboard the ship. He reaches deep into his mind to the link he shares with Law, but everything is eerily silent. It's been a while since Zoro's felt so alone. In a spare moment of sentimentality he recalls their first kiss as a mated pair, the double pressure and pleasure, the feel of hands larger than his own cradling his head carefully, and at the same time he feels how soft his own hair is to Law, who only knows the thick, almost wiry strands of his own kind's hair. The double wonder and intensity of all emotions washing over them like a tidal wave, all-consuming and unstoppable. He remembers desperately tearing at Law, wanting to get impossibly closer, to crawl into his skin, to become _one_ with Law, with his master, total submission in exchange for ultimate connection, no more solitude, no more silence, ever. 

The first few weeks had been intense. Overwhelming, even. Sometimes Zoro had wanted to yank his hair out at the constant intrusion of his thoughts. He'd had a hard time adjusting to the constant flow of Law's thoughts, the protective circling his mind did around Zoro at every fucking turn until they both learned to tune out the connection and Zoro learned to properly shield.  
Sex between them became spectacular. Law didn't have to worry about his superior strength and Zoro didn't have to hold back with his struggling. They spent days lost in each other, exploring and playing, mapping out the borders of pain and pleasure, submission and defeat, chased climax after climax until Zoro became so overstimulated that even gentle kisses had him sobbing and shaking, unable to stop tears and saliva leaking from his face, soaking into the sheets and into the mattress.  
Waking up wrapped in each other's arms brought on a new level of warmth and wholeness that Zoro hadn't ever believed possible. Law had curled his larger body around Zoro protectively, cradling Zoro's head and feeling so incredibly warm and tender that Zoro thought he'd melt. Somehow Law had changed the sheets while Zoro was passed out, building them a proper nest to hide in. So, sex was fantastic, but sharing each other's space and thoughts, not driven by carnal desire but much rather emotional, was so much better. Zoro remembers the closeness, contentment radiating off Law whenever Zoro just decides it's enough and headbutts straight into the Flevant's sternum. He remembers long fingers carding through his hair, fondly pressing Zoro's face against a broadly tattooed chest, and soft kisses peppered to the crown of his head during private stolen moments during missions.

He drags two pillow cases filled to the top onto the insurgents' ship, slowly accepting that perhaps his end is the unique kind of lonely only humans can ever be, with their lack of connection to the mental plane. There's absolutely _nothing_ he could connect to during his last few minutes. The explosive powder burns in his eye, his airways, he's accidentally brushed some onto his face and the scar tissue over his eye pulsates painfully under the corrosive chemical.  
By now he's reasonably certain that a key component is phosphorus because there's a certain stain with the material of the wall panels. Phosphorus is one of the rarer elements in the universe, Terra is fairly unique in its chemical composition, and many materials in outer space are sensitive to it. Zoro takes another look at his hands. They're angry red, a few weeping scratches showing up already and he grinds his teeth. He can only manage one more trip onto the service docks before he needs to seal the door. Taking a look around the mess he's created trying to scoop up and brush out the Dance Powder mixture he can only hope it's been enough to stop the massive chain reaction. He really wants Law to live. He wraps up the last hammock around the cloth he used to gather more of the dust and pulls it down the hall and past the airlock. The bag catches on something and the Dance Powder distributes throughout the entire service dock area. Fuck it, Zoro thinks, at least it's past the airlock. He can seal the door and just blow the entire dock to smithereens.

And then he notices something running down his hand. 

_Blood_. 

The yank of the rough material against his hands tore through the inflamed, raw skin and now blood is running down his fingers and dripping down.

Dripping onto the volatile mixture of Dance Powder and a phosphorus based explosive. Zoro runs. 

The static white noise that fills his brain doesn't allow for him to really register what happens, he passes through the airlock and slams the emergency lock button over and over again.  
There's an inferno approaching, flames exploding out and vile smoke billows up, he can feel the heat encroaching and he turns to face his end. 

_The airlock snaps shut a split second too late. Thermal energy spills into the dust covered hallway, igniting the rest of the volatile concoction. With a burst of bright, white light the explosive does its job and burns through what little oxygen is still left. A human body can't withstand these conditions. A human body can barely withstand the climate conditions on Terra for prolonged amounts of time._

_Intense temperature ranges, true loneliness, fear. Humans hadn't ever been supposed to exit their planet's orbit, much less that of their moon, and yet here Zoro was, breaking the natural laws imposed on his kind, forming a meaningful connection and jumping over several evolutionary stages to become something more. But in the end, who he was had caught up with him. Absolute radio silence and a heat so incredible that his skin was melting off of him._

_His last thought was of Law. Dark eyes shadowed by a weird fur cap and slender hands cradling a longsword almost taller than himself. Hands that were always cool and dry, gentle and soft like the pale pink lips that kept whispering his name._

_Zoro-ya... Zoro-ya... Zoro-ya.._

_Zoro-ya.._

_Zoro-ya... Zoro-ya..._

_Zoro..._

_Ro..._

_O.._

_....._

_..._

_.._

_..-o_

_...-ro_

Zoro-ya. 

"Zoro-ya..."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So. I will talk science now.
> 
> I know this is tagged handwaving science and it boils down to handwaving science BUT I still have like. Standards and expectations I hold myself to. And nuclear fission doesn't work with ~normal~ boring hydrogen, but Deuterium and Tritium. And I _messed that up_. So obviously I needed to fix that.
> 
> And because I'm a tech stupid idiot, instead of just replacing the wrong terms and rewriting like. Three sentences. I accidentally deleted the entire fucking paragraph. Because I had imported it to AO3 already and wasn't in my writing app where I can just marker parts I want to proof read. I thought I had markered the paragraph. I had instead _selected_ the entire damn thing aaaand then deleted it. 
> 
> _Tech. Stupid._
> 
> Mossbeast out!


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the long absence.  
> My partner is in a rehab facility so I'm alone with a toddler and while I had planned to have everything written, edited and published long before now I ended up panicking like. A month or something before (it's a planned stay, nothing too serious. Military just messes people up) and couldn't get much done. That and US elections really spiked my anxiety. Also I had to clear up some personal, real life things and do a metric fuckton of scary social interactions and let me tell you _I suck_ at making phone calls. 
> 
> For more stupidity updates see end notes...

The first time Law ever heard of the human bounty hunter Zoro he'd scoffed at the idea of a _human_ successfully hunting anything other than humans and perhaps a Mera on a desert world.  
Humans are weak, their reflexes are laughable and their lifespan isn't even long enough to let them travel to another planet without warp. Their whole species is addled with flaws and their society... Well. They consider their society to be 4520 years old, but in a weird way. They have an old religion where some dude prayed love and got killed for it (unsurprisingly) and that's the guy they started recording time with. And they already knew the whole thing was miscalculated by seven or eight Terra years in 1920 or something.  
They hold on to ancient belief systems, to creatures they call God or a thing called Nirwana and Terra history is full of war and bloodshed over which God is better. There's a whole civil not-quite war over Allah or Jahwe. Or rather, a prophet of this God.

Law has never quite understood the intricacies of human culture but he knows that they get fiercely protective over things they care about.  
Why they care though? That's off the bat. There's no telling when or why a human will suddenly start caring, the only thing that is certain is that once they start, there is very little stopping them. 

It really shouldn't have been surprising to Flevance when Terra offered their aid during an ecological crisis, effectively saving hundreds of fledglings when the rest of the Federation would have been content to sit on their hands and watch the planet tear itself apart. Children take up a special role in human culture and saving the Flevant's seemed nothing short of their duty as allies - to humans. Law remembers the day when a rickety Terran space craft entered Flevance's atmosphere, damn near crashed on the rocky surface and the first thing the guy in the white suit - _a human_ \- yelled back into the craft was "stop eyeballing, start calculating, dimwit!".

He remembers the group of fledglings he'd found on his scavenging trips trying to hide behind him when the person approached. He'd seen images of early human space travels, bulky white suits, huge oxygen tanks and fishbowl helmets covered with a reflective and protective screen. He didn't expect those suits still to be the norm.

Turns out they weren't, but since the Terran government decided the Flevant Crisis was something they needed to bother with on a whim, they'd mobilized any and every craft they could spare, including old, retired shuttles and untested prototypes alike. The same went for protective gear. The crew that picked up Law and his group of fledglings was one of those that had _fine vintage_ equipment. Law would have called it utter junk but the human seemed inexplicably proud to be captaining this particular vessel.

He soon learned that humans are a _headache_. They are incorrigible meddlers and have very little qualms with getting involved in conflicts that don't affect them even peripherally. Justice seems to be a personal vice to all of them. When one of the older crew members, a dark skinned woman with expressive eyes and a mass of curly hair, sat down after her shift for a cup of tea and offered some insight, the Flevant kids listened.  
Terra had a troublesome history full of racism, sexism, inequality, ableism, religious prosecution and pseudo-democracies turned autocracies. A history of minor slights turning into violent, messy wars with side effects that lasted for decades and very near destroyed the planet.  
They learned that doctors were a rarity in many places and in others, medical treatment was so expensive that people would just die for fear of medical debt. But they also learned about the many different cultures and perspectives, the values they continued on through their various religions. A different crew member started telling the Flevants about Terran culture after every beta shift, and each time Law made sure to remember all the little quirks that accompanied the person. 

For all their flaws, humans are incredible. What they lack in scientific knowledge or battle prowess, they make up on the go. They have a myriad of truly great tacticians to fall back on, so fighting them is always a gamble. They don't believe in sticking to one type of combat, either. They always seem to have a way out, and if that be a fistful of dirt thrown into an opponent's face.

They are also frail. Humans wither and die within a few changed seasons. Law is a lot older than any of the human caretakers he'd been with during the two hundred years that he'd stayed on Terra.  
He'd seen more funerals during that time than most Flevants ever saw during their lives, he'd watched human children be born, grow, wither and disappear. Full lives that didn't even cover a noticeable amount of time in a Flevant's life. Leaving Terra had been strange. On the small blue planet, everything was noisy and bustling, always in motion, always _something_ going on, but exiting the atmosphere had shifted his perspective back to the cold, quiet reality of space.

Terra became Law's refuge.

Whenever the vast nothingness that is space becomes too much, he merges with the crowds on Terra - or at the very least a planet with a high human population.  
Street food, colorful fashion, blinking screens advertising some fun or other, music, _life_. 

Perhaps, in the grand scheme of things, the human chaos is the very soul of life within the myriad of creatures in the known universe. They just _are_ , frighteningly so, they jump headfirst into everything because they believe that somehow things will turn out okay. They forge alliances left and right, gather odd favors because they did something along the way that somehow benefitted an entire solar system, and they make _friends_. They're precious to Law, and he wants to see the entire race safe, this entire culture and bustle that seems so unimportant and only exists for a single breath of time. But they leave an impression, wherever they go.

Hearing of a _human_ bounty hunter making waves is unfathomable. Law thinks, at first, someone is joking. The Federation is playing an elaborate prank on everyone. And then he finds a young human, he can barely be twenty Terra years old, lost on a deep space dock cursing about having to be in the _other side_ of the closest galaxy. 

_"Who are you looking for?", Law finds himself asking the young man. He has shocking green hair and golden studs with long dangles hanging from his left earlobe, a type of body jewelry that is insanely popular among humans.  
"Dracule Mihawk", the boy sighs.  
"What does a boy like you want with Mihawk?", Law asks, surprised.  
"I want to beat him. To be the best swordsman in the universe."_

The human ends up on Law's ship as a guest for the next two jumps and when Law drops him off on a planet filled with primitive life forms he's fairly sure that's the last he'll ever see of the man, despite how intriguing he is.  
Humans just die. 

Three years later the same mossy green hair appears before him on a busy merchant outpost. Zoro still wears his dangly golden earrings and cocky smirk ~~that Law has learned to love~~ , same old swagger and confidence but one of his eyes is permanently shut. If anything, it makes Zoro look more daring. It's also a mark of the painful fragility of humans.  
He joins Law's crew on a whim, and for the first time in a long while Law rests easier. That's when everything starts to shift. Zoro never said he wanted to remain part of the Heart Crew, but that doesn't mean the captain doesn't plan as though he would. Gradually, they move from polite conversation and stilted silences to deeper understanding and comfortable meditation sessions. They spend hours in each other's presence without the need to talk or do something. Law feels his fascination grow, and his obsession with the green-haired swordsman, too. His crew come to love Zoro. They're all creatures that live an incredibly long life, suitable for a spacecraft that will make waves in the next four centuries, so they all have trouble connecting to the present and truly living in it.  
When Zoro starts a prank war, everyone joins in readily. Bepo, more often than not, falls victim to the joint prank efforts of the crew and no one save Zoro can safely prank the captain, but even drenched in honey and covered in feathers Law feels light in a way he hasn't since he stayed on Terra as a fledgling and learned to embrace what makes humans so unique in the universe. He lets himself drift closer to Zoro, allows for touches that humans need and pretty much every other species loathes; humans rarely let their warring backgrounds negate their need for platonic touching. But then again their planet is rich, and even if meteorological parameters are only rarely favorable for survival without climatized protection zones, _houses_ as humans like to call them, resources like food and water were widely available even during ecological collapse. They rely on their sense of community to survive more strongly than any other recorded species. And Zoro somehow deems the Heart Crew an acceptable community. 

It starts small, handing things over instead of putting them down in front of the other to avoid touching, and moves on to a squeeze on the shoulder after a particularly grueling sparring session, a wordless thanks, on to deliberately bumping into each other when they pass on the hallway. Penguin, Bepo and Shachi sit Law down after two years of Zoro being part of the crew and ask him what he's planning on doing. 

"Claiming a human would be disastrous!", they all agree and Law finds himself nodding because objectively _yes, they are incredibly right_ but they also don't see the tiny lift of Zoro's lips when Law grabs his waist or hips to gently move him around, when Zoro's blocking a console or Law's bookshelf. They don't see the beautiful curve of Zoro's throat when he leans his head back against the wall after their sparring sessions, sweat running down his face and neck. It's careless that Zoro would make himself so vulnerable in the company of an apex predator but Law drinks in the whispers of implicit trust, revels in the knowledge that Zoro considers him safe. And Zoro knows firsthand how dangerous some alien species can be.  
He can't pinpoint when Zoro shifts from crewmember to someone more personal in his mind. For all the suddenness of humans, that particular change came creeping, and Law only realizes it when Zoro lays unresponsive and deathly pale on a biobed in medbay and Law prepares himself for surgery, and he feels a hint of anxiety cloud his rational mind with _what ifs_. He allows himself a few minutes with Zoro definitely under to just stare at his human, and hovers over the open chest, over the steadily beating heart. He graces the muscle slightly with his fingertips, feels how warm it is, how it shudders slightly under his touch however soft it may be, and if he tastes a drop of blood and takes a deep inhale of Zoro's scent before sewing him back up, that's all his business and his alone. 

The way Zoro looks at him in the week following the surgery is oddly hungry and somewhat knowing. Law chooses to ignore it, and if he's slightly more protective and a lot more strict about the human's recovery, well, he can always claim special awareness of human fragility and extra interest in the healing process.

That is until Zoro corners him and demands to know why, all of a sudden, Law cares so much.

"You never gave a flying fuck, Captain, and suddenly you're putting me on bedrest, even confining me to my quarters when we're docked?" The unspoken question of _are you insane_ hovers in the air between them, along with a trace of hurt. He never meant to hurt Zoro. Something inside Law tears and wrenches and coils and snaps and its painful and uncomfortable and he hates, hates, _hates_ the dejected look on Zoro's face when he can't come up with a verbal response and instead just stares him down. Zoro growls and it's breathtakingly _beautiful_ , a kind of sound that makes Law's blood run hot because he can imagine Zoro growling at intruders in their home, where Zoro protects the fledglings while Law is out hunting, but then Zoro turns and _leaves_ and that isn't what Law wants or needs and he's sure that's the case for Zoro too but he really shouldn't and damn it pains him but he's the captain and anything other than being friendly is strictly prohibited. No crew member can get preferential treatment. 

Zoro becoming the vice captain is a choice of reason. _There's no emotional connection to his appointment whatsoever._  
Because Zoro, by fault of being human, is capable of a deeper level of emotional caring than any other crew member, which allows him to be empathetic towards others. Then he's also a bounty hunter, and a well respected one at that, and he knows where high bounty prey lies that he can easily capture and turn in for a hefty sum of credits. He knows a fair share of people that are always good to be acquainted with in the known universe and he's surprisingly creative. He also levels out Law's stubbornness to some extent and vice captains stay on the ship most of the time as the backup.  
_Not an emotional choice._  
Law accompanies the crew down to a fairly harmless jungle planet one day for a simple away mission and seeing Zoro make himself comfortable in Law's chair feels right. The lazy salute Zoro throws his way, for which any other crew member would surely see the brig for at least 60 hours, draws a tiny smirk onto Law's face. He likes the newfound cocky attitude.  
Kinda makes him want to see Zoro all tied up and bouncing helplessly on his hard cock until he's learned his place.  
Law is sure Zoro would cry so prettily if he were to wear a cock ring throughout the entire thing.  
Human males have, according to human pornography, a small organ that is very sensitive to stimuli, and that is often described as a pleasure spot. Many human males can even climax without ejaculation - of one were to apply a fun toy like a cock ring - when their prostate is stimulated accordingly. Law itches to see if this holds true.

He knows his species can draw out sexual intercourse for days, humans however tend to end fairly quickly, with a handful of hours being the longest. How would Zoro react if Law were to restrain him to his bed and just have his way, the Flevant way, with the green haired menace?

It's good that the mission was mostly his own routine trip to gather medicinal herbs and stock up on food supplies. Had this been an actual mission, his distractedness would have probably meant his end.

Perhaps three weeks later Law sighs and runs his cold hand over Zoro's freshly tattooed back. Human skin is very thin and sensitive, and the rough treatment by the tattooist on the small space station Skyepia didn't heal well, and now the vice captain is conked out cold in one of the biobeds in medbay, pale green light shimmering off the clammy, oddly pale skin and the weak body desperately fighting off the massive infection. There's nothing much Law can do to help, short of removing the entire infected patch of skin, but that would require of him to cut away the signs that Zoro belongs to Law. The smiling jolly roger Law has picked for himself, the words _Death's Blade_ , the Flevant tribal markings down Zoro's arms and spine morphing into human tribal markings that cover his chest. Zoro's chest looks a little better, but not by much. The fever has steadily been decreasing and rationally, Law is aware that his swordsman and vice captain will pull through but worry keeps him glued to Zoro's bedside, running his cold hands over the hot, sensitive back, watching muscles bunch under the featherlight touches, listening how gradually the pained moans turn into more excited ones, watching how painful shifting turns into more deliberate, near humping movement.

Zoro is still delirious with fever when he gasps out Law's name and softly begs him _please_ and how could Law ever say no to this creature? So he tells him _yes, of course, Zoro-ya_ and with a quiet sob, Zoro releases onto the biobed.  
For once, Law is utterly grateful for the self cleaning technology because explaining what jsut happened to anyone would prove disastrous. 

He files away the soft gasps and moans and cries for him to revise at a later time. And then he settles once more next to Zoro's bedside and waits. Four days _and six orgasms_ later, Law deems Zoro healed enough to move back into his own quarters.  
The _Polar Tang_ always has two crew members sharing one bathroom, and coincidentally, Captain and Vice Captain have adjoining rooms.  
Law isn't so sure he'd already release Zoro from medbay if it were any different. The kid still gets himself into way too much trouble. There's still a small chance that he'll have to remove part of the tattoo if Zoro doesn't let him properly take care of it and tones his disaster-prone tendencies down, and the proximity gives Law a feeling of being able to do that. Sort of a permanent reminder, not unlike the stamps of ownership all over Zoro's body.  
Of course they're not actual ownership marks and the Flevant tribal tattoos are of a community that is long since dead, at least on Flevance, but the way Zoro traces the bold, black lines on his forearms with a deep, thoughtful expression and a far away gaze leads Law to believe that Zoro has _some_ connection to the Shimotsuki clan. Not the most surprising chain of events, the Shimotsuki were after all fabled for their battle prowess, and their skills and rigorous hand-to-hand combat training. They produced a line of fine swordsmen and Zoro does fight with rather ancient tools as well. It's not Law's place to ask, however, so he'll only know if Zoro deigns to tell him. 

Zoro having been close enough to a clan to consider himself part of it means that he knows to some extent of the social and racial habits of Flevants. This thought makes Law perk up because it means Zoro sees the way Law treats him for what it is.  
Courting. Marking. Claiming.  
Perhaps one day possessing.  
The thought hits him halfway through gamma shift, Zoro retired after beta because humans need a lot more rest, and leaves him tense and unable to focus more than half of his devices on the job at hand. Not that it requires more than ten percent, but it's a thing of principle and perhaps a point of pride, too, to always be fully alert and available.  
That day, however, he can't wait for the shift to end and once it does he hurries towards his cabin, the door swishing open as he approaches, and Law stumbles when he enters and sees Zoro sitting on the small couch Law picked out instead of a bed. He doesn't sleep much anyway. 

"Captain", Zoro says. "I need to speak to you on a personal matter."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> More stupidity updates. Seriously, who thought letting the beasts run wild was a valid idea?
> 
> Here goes: I broke my fucking toe like the idiot I am, and because I'm extra it's two fractures and a dislocated joint. The fractures are on either side of the joint. _Yes_ there was a lot of force and now I'm constantly in pain or loopy because of pain meds, which just leads to incoherent sentence structure and pages upon pages of nonsensical rambling. So I had to wait until a day without pain meds rolled by (It's been four weeks exactly for anyone wondering). And even then, taking care of a toddler as a single parent with a broken toe is fucking impossible. I have a newfound, even deeper respect for single moms (don't get me wrong, my mom was a single mom for a long time, and self employed too, so I know it's hard but rational thought can't really grasp everything that goes into being a single mom). Their job is unimaginable.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Part two because the whole thing just got out of hand. Originally I had thought about making a series with one main story line and a handful of flavor/lore drop one shots buuut I ended up cramming it all into one chapter and it got kinda enormous. So yeah.
> 
> Can't make any promises concerning the next chapter, but since I wanted to be done with the whole thing by now I'm holding on to hope that everything will sort itself out soonish. Maybe I'll get used to my new situation. 
> 
> My baby and I are staying with friends at the time because I can't drive anywhere or walk anything mroe than one kilometer a day in total, so maybe once we'll both get used to the whole situation I'll have the peace of mind to wrap up the last chapter and throw in some edits. We'll see.

_"Captain", Zoro says. "I need to speak to you on a personal matter."_

"Go ahead."  
"Permission to speak freely, Sir?" It's unusual for Zoro to be so formal. Law cocks a brow.  
"When have I ever deemed it necessary to police your tone?"  
Zoro's mouth twitches weirdly, before he answers: "I suppose you haven't. Just thought I'd make it abundantly clear that I want to talk to Trafalgar Law, not Captain Heart."  
"And you have. Speak, Zoro. You look tired."  
"We're headed by a small colony from Wano. I wish to disembark there."  
"Whenever has that been a problem, Zoro-ya?"  
"I... Look. I'm sure you know who the Shimotsuki are."  
"Were, but yes."  
"No, are. One line is still left. It's their colony, so most of them left Flevance for it. I know they're treated as dead and gone on your planet but they're still there."  
"What is it that you desire with the Shimotsuki clan, Zoro-ya?"  
For some reason, Zoro looks even more upset now: "I made a rash, emotional decision and left them in a hurry after they cared for me for eight years, taught me how to wield my swords even though I was weak and would never be truly Flevant. At the time I refused their offer to become part of their clan, but now I have without their consent. I need to.. Need to speak with them. At the very least."  
"I'm sure it'll sort itself out. The offer of adopting someone into a clan isn't given lightly, least of all by a clan as proud as the Shimotsuki."  
Zoro heaves a deep sigh. "The teacher... He had a daughter. I'm not sure I loved her but she was dear to me, although more like a sister I suppose. She stood to inherit the claims to the colony."  
Law makes a face. He can imagine where this goes. Flevance is many things, but rarely ever progressive, and for females to inherit _anything_ is almost unheard of. Sure, the clan leaders are usually the matriarchs and females run the day to day life, but all official business is run by males. Flevance does well in many aspects, but there still are a myriad of issues, and sadly gender equality is a big one. Change doesn't come quickly when the average lifespan is close to a thousand Terra years.  
"She... Died. Fell down a cliff, broke her neck. I'm still not sure if it was done on purpose by either her or someone else. The day she's interred, Koushiro offers me a seat on the clan council. I ran. I didn't want to replace Kuina because my gender makes me a more favorable heir. I'll be dead long before Koushiro. Before anyone on that council. They just wanted a male heir to sire some fledglings and make sure Kuina gets forgotten."

Zoro looks... Destroyed, for lack of better word. Law isn't sure how to proceed. Humans are odd, that way. Does he comfort him? Reason with him because he's intimately aware of Flevant customs? Does Zoro seek advice? He's about to ask when Zoro clears his throat and continues, while tracing a specific swirl which means that he already has a life bond. Law frowns. Getting the life bond marked on one's skin is a huge ceremony and certainly nothing one does on a whim.

"Kuina.. She had this dream. To be the greatest swordsman in the known universe. She gave up when I was taken in by their school and immediately received special treatment. I can see now how they were grooming me, perhaps even to be bonded with her. Had she been human, Kuina could have easily been my grandmother. When she told me her suspicions, I laughed her off. I didn't... I couldn't believe these people... They took me in when I was barely old enough to hold a katana properly, trained me, fed me, clothed me, and no expectations of payment. I guess they saw a short-term investment and took it. I just didn't realize my _life_ was their payment."  
"The old clans will be that way, sadly", Law says, voice thick. There's a weird feeling clawing at his ribcage from the inside, the knowledge of a _life bond_ that Zoro shares with _someone who isn't Law_. It's tearing at him. The jealous rage he can barely tame on good days rears its ugly head but he knows the value of such a promise. He can't force Zoro to break it. He should have asked before courting anyway. 

Law dimly remembers being admonished by his oldest crew members about courting a human, of all beings, and he can admit that perhaps they were right about it. But... Zoro. He's special. He took Law's breath away in a split second, with his loud hair and raucous energy and cat-like grace. He didn't seem human at first, not even like an advanced human. He had been something else entirely. _And Law had seen why he was a renowned bounty hunter._

He joins Zoro on his trip to the colony, mostly to be sure he is in good hands, but what greets them is sour disdain and barely concealed discontentment. They don't let Zoro explain and offer no explanation themselves.  
Law is furious with the old ways of the clan, he gets slightly better treatment for the sole reason of being a Flevant who's notorious with his longsword, so after Zoro storms off angrily Law stays and tries to placate ruffled feathers. It takes him a good 8long while to notice that Koushiro isn't present.  
It takes him even longer to disentangle himself from the discussion at hand without being impolite and look for either Zoro _or_ his teacher.

He finds both of them kneeling comfortably in front of a small, white gravestone in the main yard, far away from the family crypt or the local graveyard, but still obviously cared for and carefully kept in good shape. There's tiger lilies and roses and small evergreens, tall leafy plants and even a small ginko tree throwing soft shade over the place, giving it a somber air but not being oppressive.  
Law takes his time approaching them. He sees Koushiro grasping Zoro's forearms and hears him speak, although not all of the conversation makes its way to him because of the soft breeze blowing words away.

_"Who's the man you..... Zoro? Does he....... promise too?"  
".... Kuina's dream... I don't..... he wants."_

_"Surely you must have....... signs...... we would certainly......... wish."  
"The Council............ never........ an outlaw, sensei.......... shunned."_

The wind picks up and Law moves from his semi-hidden vantage point to join the two men. Koushiro, upon closer inspection, looks very kind and infinitely more happy to see Zoro. He greets the elder politely, but only with the bare minimum of respect he's due. Law saw a bunch of stuck up racist bigots tear down everything _his_ vice captain has built up for himself painstakingly in a universe that isn't kind or accommodating to a race as squishy as humans. For all of Law's concern, they may very well all go to hell and die heirless and forgotten. And for any extra ounce of respect, the Shimotsuki will have to grovel. No one hurts Zoro under Law's watch.  
Koushiro bows a lot deeper than strictly necessary and Law feels a little smug. His reputation precedes him in every corner of the universe. 

"Thank you for bringing Zoro back to me, Captain Heart", Koushiro says. "I never quite agreed with the clan elders and hoped this colony would prove different but in some ways it's even worse than Flevance. The influence of Wano is indisputable."  
"Why didn't you tell Zoro-ya what had been planned? Why did he have to find out from his _only_ friend?", Law asks, voice cold and biting.  
"I did not realize how young our friend here is. And once the elders had their sights set on a forced bond between Kuina and he, what good would I have done telling him?" The old man wrings his hands, clearly distressed.  
"You could have found a way to work around the bond. Put in a fake, for all I care. From what I hear, she could have easily been his grandmother!" Law rarely gets angry but this half-assed bullshit is really grating on him. "He's a human, barely a fledgling in _our_ world, and you thought it alright to bond him to a person who had easily thrice the life experience? And now she's dead!"  
"Captain, I-", Koushiro begins, but Zoro raises a hand to silence both Flevants before any blood can be wrongly shed on a memorial.  
"Law, I'm not bonded", he says, voice clear and serious. Law yanks at his forearm and turns up the bond swirls for everyone to see.  
"You know what this is, Zoro-ya. You've lived among us for most of your life. You know what it _means_ ", Law snarls.  
"It's the promise we made the night before she died", Zoro says, glaring angrily back at Law. "It means everything to me and has kept me alive. A bond is a promise no partner will ever break, yeah? I'm never breaking this. Becoming the greatest swordsman was her dream and I will carry it out because she _can't_."

That punches the fight and anger out of Law like nothing he's ever experienced. It _is_ a valid bond, a life bond even, but without the expectations of physical and mental intimacy. This life bond is not the life bond of a couple, and it doesn't negate further emotional connections. And all the emotions Law has carefully kept locked away ever since he first saw Zoro's Flevant tribal tattoos come back and hit him full force in the back, he drops to his knees and places his hands firmly on the dirt ground, bowing his head.  
"I apologize, Zoro-ya, Koushiro-ya. It seems I've done you both and your clan a grave injustice."  
And Zoro just does the weirdest fucking thing ever and pulls Law into an awkward hug, a gesture he's seen countless times on Terra and Terran colonies and space stations inhabited and operated mostly by humans.  
"You worried, and I get it. I do. Please just don't assume I'm some hapless bumbling human just because I'll never get older than your fledgelings."  
Law lifts his arms and gently lays them around Zoro's shoulders, reciprocating like he's seen humans do. There's a soft squeeze that tells him Zoro appreciates the effort and when Zoro droops against Law's still Form Law carefully squeezes back. Just a hint. They spend the afternoon quietly seated in front of Kuina's grave marker, the dead girl's father leaving them for his waiting students, and Zoro quietly shares his story.

"I came here when I was eight or so. Seven perhaps, stayed for eight years and went after Mihawk. That's when we met for the first time."  
"You were only sixteen?"  
Zoro looks entirely too amused when he tells Law that his estimation had been off by a few years.  
"You're meaning to tell me, Zoro-ya, that you studied here for eight years and within the three months it took you from here into the next galaxy you made such a name for yourself as a bounty hunter that it got carried halfway around the known universe?"  
"It helps that most look at me as merely human with no enhancements. I got lucky a lot of times when people underestimated me." 

Law shakes his head fondly and rearranges himself on the sunny spot on the ground they've chosen. The wide, traditional robes that had been provided by the Shimotsuki Clan fall open and show his boldly tattooed chest. Zoro keeps his robes more modestly, they remain mostly closed, only the barest hints of his collar bones peeking out from the slightly parted neckline. Law wants to lavish these bones with attention and love bites but if Zoro chooses to remain here Law can't give in to those urges. He settles for watching Zoro lounge in the warm light like a feline, hair shining bright like gemstones and freckles popping out on slightly sun-kissed cheeks. They're turning red at the highest points but Law knows that Zoro keeps a cream around that will relax the skin and moisturize it after such an exposure. Law let's his robes drape open even more, pretty much fully exposing his shoulders and belly and he notices Zoro swallow. He also notices the blush rising to his swordsman's cheeks.

"See anything you like, Zoro-ya?", he teases lightly. Zoro turns his head away and starts fidgeting with the tied belt of his own robes. He looks absolutely delectable covered in the wide, soft fabric and Law wonders exactly how traditional Zoro wears these robes, given that the Shimotsuki are pretty strict on the whole tradition part. 

On Flevance there are special undergarments made from the wool of a sheep-like animal, the Ghetan, that is native to the ice planet. But beneath what is essentially a second set of traditional robes, Flevants go bare. The colony is warm enough to not require warm undergarments. For a second he drifts with the imagination of Zoro splaying his legs with a lazy grin and revealing _everything_ to Law. He knows Zoro's body intimately, as a doctor he's responsible for the regular health check ups and they require seeing the entirety of the body at some point. Perhaps he never told Zoro he upgraded his biobed systems to be able to scan through clothing. Perhaps Zoro shrugged when he got a bad conscience and told him anyway, and Zoro claimed that without stripping bare and being poked and prodded at, it didn't feel like a proper check up. Humans were strangely comfortable with nudity and Law secretly reveled in the fact. As a fledgling he positively hated it, but now as an adult, well. His tastes have changed. 

"Shut up", Zoro murmurs.  
"It's fine, Zoro-ya. Some people would kill for seeing half of what you're seeing now. Consider it a privilege and enjoy."  
“ _Bastard son of an idiot king_ ", Zoro hisses in perfect standardized Flevant and Law stares incredulously.  
" _You've been holding out on me, dear._ ", he finally says. Zoro smirks.  
"You're keeping secrets left and right, why wouldn't I have my own?"  
" _What would you know of me, Zoro-ya, so that I may uncover what else you're keeping from me_?", Law continues in Flevant. He's met with a frown, but Zoro switches back. The way the syllables roll off Zoro's tongue is beautiful, and the barely there hint of an accent makes him sound more rugged and dangerous than helpless, which is an odd association, Law thinks, but he doesn't dwell on it because it suits Zoro. He is, after all, a weapon through and through.  
" _Your tattoos. I'm not really familiar with all the stories they can hold. The people here... Well. They believe in only showcasing certain details, smudging over others. How does your clan treat it_?"

Law shrugs out of his overgarment, letting it pool around his hips where it's still fastened with the tied belt.  
" _Tell me what you can read and I'll guide you through the rest_ ", he offers and Zoro moves to Law's back and starts between the shoulder blades.  
" _Born on a blessed day... Whatever that means_."  
" _Just something to make everything more dramatic_ ", Law chuckles. Zoro snorts in reply and Law remembers that Zoro's birth is only mentioned in passing on his back.  
" _Protector of another fledgling. I think a fledgling in your clan_?"  
" _A younger sister_ ", Law offers. " _She's... Fifteen Terra years younger than I am, I think. She never survived the crisis._ " " _So this is a death marker, then_?", Zoro asks, carefully tracing the familiar painful place. Law nods. " _It's for my parents and the other clan members too, although I haven't had much contact with them. I think Bepo keeps the few survivors sort of up to date because his kind value family over everything. He doesn't understand why I'm... Indifferent._ " There's a thoughtful hum from behind and small, careful touches across his back. Normally this sort of intimacy is saved for bonded couples, baring their backs to each other and relaying centuries of life experiences, no secrets or illusions, and Law is sure that Zoro knows this but he loves it anyway. He wishes they could do this together, entirely bare, in either of their quarters on the Polar Tang or a cozy little burrow on Flevance or a tiny cottage out in a forest on Terra. Just the two of them sharing a small space and everything that makes up their lives.  
"You were on Terra. I've known this", Zoro taps a spot, "to be translated as prisoner, but you were rescued. That doesn't fit."  
"It just means that a person was taken", Law explains. "For most Flevants it is connected to Clan wars but the sign itself doesn't indicate intention. In the past, there used to be a... Tradition of sorts. Females could either be courted or taken, and that's where this comes from." A noncommittal hum is all the response he gets, while soft fingers ghost further over black ink embedded deep in his skin.

"Loss of a bondmate, but not a life bond... Still, must have been important to be put on your skin."  
"One of the humans who saved me during the crisis. He... I guess he was a sort of father to me, but he died much too early."  
"I'm afraid all humans die much too early in the eyes of a Flevant, Law."  
"He was murdered, Zoro-ya. By his own brother no less." Anger curls hot in Law's guts when he remembers the face of his mentor as he's being riddled with bullets.

Rosinante had been an exceptional human. He'd risen above his family, a bunch of war criminals and intergalactic mob bosses, and joined the Federation in their attempts to shut down the crime syndicate of the Donquixote family. Law finds himself telling the story of how he nearly tore Rosinante's brother, who ordered his execution, apart in his grief. Zoro is a calming presence at his back, warm and still and steady. Law wishes for nothing more than for Zoro to curl into his bare back and be close. He gets strong arms carefully wrapped around his shoulders and chest instead, and a head pressed against his own. He can feel Zoro breathe against his back, chest and abdomen expanding calmly as sensitive lungs push and pull air into them.

"Im sorry you had to witness something so cruel", Zoro whispers. Law pats Zoro's hand to signal him to let go even if that's the last thing on Law's mind, but he's mindful of where they are and what position they're in.  
Flevants don't take too kindly to public displays of affection, least of all if the pair isn't bonded or one part is bonded with someone else. Zoro's bond is different, but nonetheless still a life bond and Law very clearly has no life bonds. For a split second he entertains the thought of asking Koushiro for his blessing in his courtship of Zoro but that would be too late and also might put pressure on the swordsman. 

"Let's continue this at a later date, Zoro-ya. For now I'm hungry." They gather themselves together and Zoro leads them down the main building and into a very large dining room. Three long tables with small pillows indicating places fill it and one of them is set for two people with a fine tea set and a platter of small Wanoan and Flevant treats.  
Law can't deny annoyance at the stiffness of all the formality but at the same time he finds himself oddly pleased at the spread of delicacies he rarely ever gets to eat since he left Flevance. Zoro wrinkles his nose at the tea and procures a pitcher of water for himself. Law can barely hide his smirk behind the tiny tea cups. They eat mostly in silence and Law watches how well Zoro melts into the picture. He really was groomed to take over the clan for a while, it becomes very clear watching his deliberate movements and schooled gestures and expressions. For a human, he does a good impression of a Flevant.

"I don't understand how you people can drink that stuff", Zoro says, sounding mildly annoyed.  
"It's an acquired taste, Zoro-ya. I didn't start enjoying it until well into my hundred-fifties."  
"If it takes that long for something to grow on you, I'm not sure it's worth it." The way Zoro's nose crinkles looks very enticing to Law. He wants to imagine that Zoro would make a similar face if he were to kiss his nose unexpectedly.  
"Perspective, dear", he drawls. "And perhaps traces of education. I hear it's the new fashionable sensation." Law doesn't bother hiding his smirk when Zoro sits up ramrod straight and ignores him in favor of making his way through assorted pastries and pies.

They spend three days in the colony, mostly confined to the many buildings that belong to the Shimotsuki Clan. Law takes out some of his frustrations on the students of Koushiro, learns a lot more about Zoro's past than he's comfortable knowing without Zoro's explicit consent and has a deep, seething hatred for the elder council.  
They're plotting, again, and Law has an uncomfortable, nagging feeling that he's somehow involved.

On the morning of the fourth day, Zoro approaches him before breakfast.  
"I will leave for Vega soon, there's someone there I really want to see behind bars. Or in a block of ice. I don't care. They need to be gone. Will you accompany me, Captain?"  
"You normally don't ask for company, Zoro-ya. To what do I owe the pleasure?" Law is in a particularly good mood to be teasing so early, Kikoku comfortably sticking out from under his crossed arms and leaning against the door frame, body language open and inviting aside from the arms. Zoro moves until he feels the wall against his shoulders and heaves a sigh. "Perhaps I'm not all that comfortable with you being anywhere around these plotting and conniving dipshits."  
"Worried for me, Zoro-ya? I am touched", Law lifts one of his hands as to cradle Zoro's face, but hovers mere millimeters over sharp jaw and chin. He can feel the human's body heat radiating off the slightly freckled skin, can feel it pulsing of him in rhythm with his soft, frail heart that is anything but weak. A heart Law would give anything to own. A heart Law wants to love him back. With the intensity and conviction the he feels for Zoro.

There's no use denying the way he feels, not anymore, but just giving in and asking to claim Zoro seems... Too simple.  
Too calm.  
Zoro is a whirlwind of emotions and action, there's always a fight or conflict going on, always _something_. Simply asking wouldn't fit.

"Of course I'll go with you. This place is becoming quite confined for my tastes anyway."  
"It's dreadful, isn't it?", Zoro replies, with a blinding smile. He looks so happy at Law's confirmation. Law lifts his hand and hovers it millimeters over the defined jawline, feeling the warmth of the human body radiate off Zoro with every pulse of his soft, fragile heart. Not a weak heart, by no means, because Law has seldom met anyone working with as much conviction as Zoro, with everything that he does, but nonetheless human, and therefore breakable.  
"Positively", Law smirks and Zoro moves off towards the main dining room. Law follows suit, eyes glued to his vice captain's strong shoulders and slim waist, covered by nothing but soft, light fabric that he longs to shred to be able to feel and taste the warm skin beneath. He thoroughly banishes the thought when he hears voices drifting out from the dining room.  
The elder council is mostly present, speaking in High Flevant as though everyone were capable of it.  
Law suppresses a growl when they don't react to Zoro for two full minutes, and even then only throw in a formal greeting in standard. Zoro throws Law a smirk and silently devours his breakfast, intently looking around the room like a child during political dinner conversation.

Law isn't entirely sure what the elder council is going on about, he hears talk about a bondmate and that person seems to be an outlaw, and whether or not this is acceptable. Then there's talk about lack of heirs and a foreseeable loss of virility, how to ensure that there will be blood to carry on the line now that Kuina is gone and has left no children.  
He focuses on Zoro, not really tasting what he's eating, and watches him act all nonchalant and carefree.  
_It's an act._  
There's a distinct feeling telling Law that Zoro is privy to every detail of the conversation. And he's not wrong.  
Seconds after his realization, Zoro rises and says in _perfect_ High Flevant: "Gentlemen, I am not bonded to Doctor Trafalgar Law, who, even as a criminal, is a better person than all of you together. I have no reason to remain here on this colony when I have a life awaiting my return right outside this orbit. Your offers and sacrifices in the past have been greatly appreciated and you will notice that every expense has been paid for in Federation credits on the official account. I cut my ties to this Clan and wish for no further contact. Cast me out of the history as you did Kuina, and you shall be cast out of Flevance's memory like the unimportant stain that you are. Have a good day."

The entire trip to Vega Law can't help but snicker to himself when he's alone.

He leaves the ship with Zoro at the main space dock and loses him twenty minutes later. Loses him so thoroughly that he returns to the Polar Tang on his own and has Ikkaku scan every security frequency for any mention of something or someone remotely Zoro.  
On a planet like Vega there's simultaneously too much and not enough.  
It's a pleasure hub, carefully terraformed by humans who wanted _a home away from home_. The really interesting part is how they managed to keep the native fauna alive. Let it be said that humans are creative.  
Law paces grooves onto the floor of the bridge, at least that's what Shachi claims whenever he tells the story, but there is no word from Zoro. Or security.  
Although security on the planet in general is rather laughable, humans have a distinct taste for illegal activities and seedy underbellies and frowned upon hobbies. It's all really disconcerting until Law remembers that he finds himself incredibly aroused by the human practice of BDSM, which, while not illegal, is still a touchy subject with many people, even humans. But there's an appeal to consensual pain to heighten pleasure and Law... Well. He wants.  
He wants badly. And most of all he wants with Zoro. He wants to tie Zoro to his bed, set both their med files to quarantine and then just indulge. He remembers the soft gasps and sighs from Zoro's fever dreams and imagines how they would sound if Zoro weren't at the brink of severe sepsis and weakened beyond belief. He likes to imagine that Zoro would growl for him to hurry up, his voice would break after hours of stimulation and no reprieve. 

There's little to do other than pace and control the frequencies, so after a while Law leaves the bridge to see if he can find anything on _who_ Zoro's looking for. 

His vice captain keeps his room tidy, but not as clean as Law keeps his - then again, Law keeps his room like an operating theater so comparing the two of them doesn't make all that much sense.  
There's a few books, most of them well-read with cracked spines, rounded edges and yellowing paper, sitting in a small shelf. Next to the books are three of Zoro's five Padds, a whetstone and fine piece of cloth and a small photograph of him and a stern-looking Flevant woman. That must be Kuina, Law thinks, because there hasn't ever been talk of another woman during the human's time in the colony. Law picks up the Padds but they're private except for the one Zoro mainly uses to catalogue interesting fights. 

The bed is made, not as perfectly as it could have been done but passable, and Law almost doesn't notice the small leather strip poking out from under Zoro's pillow. He really shouldn't be digging around in anything that isn't directly related to Zoro's job but he can't help but wonder. 

Law finds a ring gag, a few coils of rope and nipple clamps with tiny bells attached.

He then spends half an hour locked into the bathroom trying to regain his composure. But seeing these toys in Zoro's room means Zoro put them there. And for Zoro to keep anything means he _needs_ it. Or _wants_ it.  
In a space he occupies for several hours at a time it's probably the former. He really wants to confront Zoro about it because it's driving him up the wall, but then he has to admit to snooping.  
_And Zoro probably doesn't even want Law._ At least he said something along those lines on the Shimotsuki colony. But Zoro has to know that the behavior Law is displaying is a blatant invitation. And Zoro hasn't said or done anything to indicate whether or not he's interested. As a human, he needs touch and sometimes even the physical closeness of a hug. Law has seen it millions of times on Terra, that even mere acquaintances hug each other, slap each other's backs or greet by kissing each other's cheeks. 

Maybe Zoro thinks that Law picked up human mannerisms on Terra? It's all very confusing. These tangents manage to calm him and his body enough to remember that he started looking through Zoro's room for a reason. Because Zoro is missing. 

When he goes back into Zoro's room, it's with iron focus to find a hint on whoever Zoro is hunting out there. The mere thought is exciting and sends delicious tingles to the base of Law's spine but he compartmentalizes and focuses on the task at hand. He finds a set of bounty posters by overriding Zoro's room console, but all 42 of the criminals are within the same bounty range, not all that high, certainly nowhere near what Zoro usually chooses, and none of them have last known locations anywhere close to Vega.  
He sits on the chair at Zoro's desk and stares at the console, willing his brain to focus on the current problem and not on how this room is drenched in Zoro's scent. 

It's a clean smell, for lack of better word, mostly the scented soap Zoro likes to use, which smells like Terran boreal forests, and perhaps a little musk and sweat. There's also a hint of a slightly salty and sort of heavy smell, but Law can't place it.  
The entire room simply smells like Zoro, not particularly happy or sad and least of all overwhelming unless the person smelling it is Law, or similarly infatuated with Zoro as Law.

There is absolutely nothing of use and he finds his focus drawn toward the aspect of Zoro's scent he can't quite place. He leaves his vice captain's room and heads into his own, carefully picking through all the scents he's memorized during his life.  
He's almost certain he's smelled it before, but he can't place where. It's driving him mad. It must be something fairly mundane or obvious if Zoro's room smells like it to some extent. Law thinks about cursing his obsession with Zoro's current whereabouts, he's sure that he could easily remember what it is that Zoro's room smells like if he weren't focusing so intently on where to find his swordsman. 

_Captain, we're being called _, Ikkaku announces on the public channel. He steps out into the corridor and makes his way to her favored console on one of the lower decks where she can disappear deep into the maze of tiny alcoves and tight corridors and pipes in all variety of temperature criss-crossing through the entire length and width of the ship.__

__Ikkaku sits where she always sits, as predicted, at a tiny console crammed between a bunch of hot water pipes that radiate warmth at any given time. He doesn't really understand why she'd hide away down here just for warmth because she could also just tell her room console to raise air temperature and humidity to her preferred specifications, then again he isn't sure he wants to know. He already does more than enough illogical things as is._ _

__"It's Zoro", she says in lieu of a greeting. "Hes asked to be picked up at the Den."  
"Zoro admitting to losing his way?"  
"Nah, apparently he booked a room for three hours over six hours ago and they can't seem to get him to wake up. They've asked for assistance from his crew", she snickers._ _

__The thing is, it _is_ incredibly funny. No one but Zoro would get lost and bunk down to regroup within a two-kilometer-radius of where he wants to be. Only Law takes massive issue with the knowledge of Zoro sleeping in a sex club. An intergalactically renowned one at that.  
There's the nagging voices of Bepo and Penguin telling him to tone it down with his courting because Zoro is human and won't ever truly understand the consequences of mating with a Flevant because they lack perspective.  
But Law is willing to ignore all that for Zoro. He's willing to live through heartbreak and loss because he wants the green haired human so incredibly desperately that he can't even find rest without visions and dreams of tan, freckled skin, stark black tattoos, scars and soft green hair plaguing his every thought. He can't even move through his ship without remembering how he and Zoro touched at every specific point where they have.  
He can practically feel the hot body under the soft cotton shirts that barely cover his hips, because the low slung pants reveal almost the entire pelvic v. It's truly obscene how much skin Zoro shows on any given day.  
Law specifically adores the deep plunge of the neckline of the shirts Zoro likes to wear. They do nothing to hide the muscular pectorals, if anything they just showcase how brilliantly shaped the body beneath is. A tease at the full glory.  
Andaw has seen that, too. It's an image that's been permanently etched into his brain and that causes a very high number of showers for Law. But relaxation truly is the only way for him to not be so keyed up around Zoro. _ _

__He thanks Ikkaku curtly and makes his way off the docks and to the Den. The building is vaguely familiar, it's on the news at least once a week for being the locale of yet another political scandal. He's never been there but he's seen it often enough.  
The masses of people milling around part around him like a swarm of fish in the sea, trying to avoid his angry expression. No one wants to get between a Flevant and whatever made them angry, least of all if the Flevant happens to have quite the reputation for being ruthless and impatient._ _

He enters through a tiny side door where a thin woman with pink hair stands and waves excitedly. She chatters on about how sorry they are but business must keep running and surely he understands their desperation. Law nods here and there, mostly overwhelmed by all the moaning and slapping, creaking and screaming around him. It smells like sex, like sweat, leather, rubber, lubricant, pheromones, fresh laundry and tobacco smoke. It smells like semen and other body fluids and somewhere in this madness, this total overload, is Zoro. Law grinds his teeth and follows her deeper into the madness. She opens a door to a rather large, bright room, with tasteful decor made to look like it's mostly birka tree logs fitted together with thick, hemp rope or little notches. It's very comfortable and if it didn't smell like the last fifteen patrons Law could easily imagine bunking down in here with Zoro. As it is, he strides in and for once simply uses his superior strength to pick up Zoro by the scruff of his shirt and drag him out.

"Oi, Captain! Why did you park the ship somewhere else while I was gone?!", Zoro growls once he wakes up properly, which is about ten minutes from the place where Law entered.  
"We didn't. We waited for you", Law snarls back. "How about you remember where you're going next time around for a change?"  
"What's gotten into you? Why are you so... Flevant? Is it because this is the only place I could afford to crash at? Are you worried for the image of our crew if I sleep in a place like this?" Zoro is working up a steady anger.  
Law stays silent, unsure whether or no he could keep his secret if he starts talking now. Unsure if he could resist taking Zoro right here against the wall with questionable smears across it.  
Where everyone once and for all could see that Zoro is his and no one gets to touch the swordsman.

He growls, low and warning, and Zoro shuts his good eye, sighs and follows his captain. Normalcy restored, sort of. At least that's what Law hopes. But back on the Polar Tang somehow the stench of the Den still clings to Zoro, Law thinks it gets stronger even and he knows it's most likely his instincts going haywire but he can't help it. He's focusing on the different scent markers he can tell apart and it grates on him. Logically speaking, none of these creatures were anywhere close to Zoro, but that doesn't matter. Zoro went where they go for sex and Flevants.... Well. They mate for life. There is no casual sex, ever, where Flevants are involved. _And Zoro should know better._  
Zoro retreats to his room wordlessly, Law can hear the door slide shut and it feels final in a way not many things have up until now.  
But then the door to the bathroom opens and he can hear Zoro preparing to shower. Once more the ugly need rises to barge in there and make sure Zoro gets every single pheromone off him that isn't his. 

He stays, rooted to the cold metal floor, unable to calm the brewing storm of _want_ and _need_. The greed clawing through him, burning desire in his veins, the soft, old smell of Zoro's sweat and semen cloying his senses, choking him with _Zoro's_ desire to be taken apart and he can't, he _doesn't_ stop himself as he stalks toward his own room and their shared bathroom. There's no telling how this will pan out but Zoro has to know. Has to know how much he drives Law crazy with his attitude and easy physical intimacy.

Because if there's anything Law has taken away from their stay at the Shimotsuki village, it's that he desperately wants Zoro to read every swirl and curl of his tattoos, he wants Zoro to become part of them more than he already is and feel his heart beat in perfect sync with Law's own. He wants the soft press of calloused hands against his naked skin and soft breaths at the back of his neck. 

Not having it may very well be his end.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed it! And I'm sorry for the cliffhanginess. Is that a word? It is now.
> 
> My ex partner decided the cut was a good one and I really trust them because they write nice things. They can do the words nicely. In an order that makes sense. How to language.
> 
> I have activated my Tumblr which is very simply carnivorousmossbeast. Probably won't be posting much but I'm thinking of using it to store some headcanons and perhaps - perhaps - publishing some shorts or unfinished fics or drabbles. Idk.  
> You are hereby formally encouraged to yell your headcanons at me via Tumblr. I'll be back in school come April and I want alllllll the nice things to distract myself with while I study even more human anatomy and emergency algorithms.   
> You can also yell at me via discord but I need to look that up first. But yeah. I am available via Tumblr now.
> 
> Also; I love you guys. Thank you for all the kudos 🖤  
> There's two more chapters because this one just... Keeps exploding. Word vomit. Idk man. It's been a ride.  
> The remaining two chapters will be posted as gifts because I'm a sap. I live for Yule, gift giving and very vocal appreciations of people (it's like the only time of year where I don't entirely fail at human interaction because people are more emotionally available.  
> December 24th and 30th. Tune in!


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lol Finally. And also surprise, you're getting this early because I got drunk instead of doing laundry. Happy Channukah I guess? _Probably misspelled that but I am too lazy to check._  
>  This is pure smut and perhaps some more backstory but honestly. Smut.  
> Dear gods. Kinky bastards.
> 
> If you're not all that into BDSM you might want to skip this. It's soft, as far as scenes go but some people don't really like it. That's why I'm warning you. You won't miss out on much and there'll be the resolution of the whole mess in the first chapters in four days. Bear with me.

Zoro's deep in his own thoughts and phantasies when Law opens the door to the bathroom and stalks in. He doesn't realize that the shadow looming over his shoulders is not just a figment of his imagination but the real thing.

The man he's been wanting ever since he came across him and his sly smirk when he was barely old enough to legally space travel on his own. He keeps wondering if Law is just considerate because Zoro is human, it's somewhat out of character for the Captain but then again Law bends all sorts of rules for Bepo or Ikkaku, too. But he desperately wishes that he means more to his Captain.

Every single touch has been seared into his brain, the subtle scent of his captain haunts him in his every waking moment and follows deep into his dreams, the way it permeates the entire ship there's nowhere Zoro can go to escape it. Not that he ever eally wanted to, it's just a thought that crosses his mind every time he's so painfully aroused that he's scared he'll make too much noise bringing himself off. Zoro drags a lazy hand down his abdomen that is, admittedly, ridiculously in shape. But he wouldn't have it any other way. For one, it's his only chance at survival, and if he ever wants the slightest chance of being noticed by Law. Flevants value physical fitness in their life mates because it indicates a long life, good health a desirable level of discipline. 

Zoro drags his hand back up, tugs at his pierced nipple. A jolt of pleasure shoots down his spine and he feels himself harden. He drifts back to how easily Law lifted him by the back of his shirt and dragged him along. If only Law had dragged him into his own rooms... The idea of being manhandled by the Flevant is the easiest way for him to get off because it's something Zoro finds ridiculously attractive. For all his bluster about being the strongest and having to win, there's a part of him that is shamefully delighted every time his captain wipes the floor with him during their sparring sessions.  
He tugs at his cock, remembers the look on Law's face when they were on the colony and Zoro started reading his tattoos. Remembers the slightly pleased expression at Zoro identifying the motives correctly. His captain had looked proud, an emotion Zoro wasn't even aware he wants to invoke in the stoic creature. He remembers Law's steady gaze boring deep into his soul when he asked him to accompany hin to Vega. Squeezing a little tighter, bordering on painful, he remembers the absolutely furious look on Law's face at the Den. He gasps, squeezing tighter because _if_ Law were into kink, he would make Zoro hurt for the digression. And Zoro would take it. The image of Law holding a crop has him moan and Zoro raises his free hand to bite at his wrist. There's a whisper of _Law_ on his lips and he can feel the heat curling in his gut, his balls drawing close and precum slicking the furious slide of his palm on his dick when a cool hand clamps around the base of his dick the moment before he spills and Zoro freezes. Doesn't dare look down because the body pressed into his back. It can't be.

He knows how Law feels pressed into his back from the many times he's purposely stood in front of the shelf where Law stores his pads, pretending to be looking for something himself and Law just presses against Zoro to reach past his bulky frame because it's easier than getting the green-haired man to move on his ownn volition. Law could toss Zoro over his shoulders easily but that would be crossing a line. So he just presses close like he's seen humans do in libraries and shops and basically everywhere. Humans aren't touch shy.  
"Captain", Zoro whispers, blood pounding in his ears and cock aching because despite all the shame of getting caught masturbating while thinking of his captain by said captain, he has not withered but instead grown impossibly harder. Sometimes he really hates his kinks. How much shame translates into arousal for him.  
"You called, Zoro-ya. Do you need help?" Zoro whines at the innocent question, breath coming in harsh pants because every time he moves he jostles Law's painfully tight hand on his dick but the only reprieve he can get is backing into Law and his captain surely doesn't want _that_ particular mess.  
"You looked like you were doing pretty well yourself", Law continues to purr in Zoro's ear and starts rubbing his other hand over Zoro's chest, pinching and rolling pert nipples carefully, not not hurt them with his claws. "Not that I mind lending you a hand, Zoro-ya. But we do this, and you're _mine_."  
"Yes, captain, yes, yes", Zoro hisses and his eyes roll back into his skull when Law finally _finally_ loosens the death grip on Zoro's cock and starts playing with the head.

He can barely stand upright, his knees are shaking, legs betraying him for the first time ever and he loses control of his voice once Law starts pointedly biting and licking at Zoro's neck while keeping up stimulation lower down.

"You're clean enough", Law deems and drags Zoro into his room by his hair, letting go of the deeply flushed cock that almost looks angry. Zoro whines, but doesn't beg. It will take much, much more to make him beg. A tug at his hair makes the human sink to his knees in front of the bed, facing the piece of furniture, and Law steps around him to sit on the edge of the mattress, and stare at the human he's about to claim. Zoro shifts a little, his cock aches and even though the ambient temperature is set to his likings, hes still got water clinging to his body that rapidly cools against his skin. He looks up at his Captain, a hundred questions and unashamed hunger and desire running their course over his face. He's met with a blank expression, one that Law wears to guide what he's thinking. It's normally reserved for the officers who handle the exchange of wanted criminals and bounty.  
"We don't have flings, Zoro-ya", Law finally says, and levels his gaze at Zoro's face. A face that is still flushed red and with glazed eyes that seem to look somewhere deeper than the two of them in Zoro's quarters. Zoro nods. "I want that", he rasps. "Only you, Captain. For the rest of our days." The meaning shoots straight to Law's cock and he pats his thigh for Zoro to climb up.  
"You would have me? I'm flattered. You surely must have some experience on the matter."  
"So do you", Zoro replies while climbing to sit over Law's lap. "Perhaps your experiences aren't as interpersonal as mine but they're still there. I know that you talked with the Elder Council about matters of fertility- ah..." He chokes himself off when Law pinches one of his nipples again.  
"Do not speak of anyone else while we consummate our bond", the Flevant hisses, eyes blazing angrily. Zoro can't quite keep the feeling of fondness, together with the delicious trickle of fear down in the lumbar spine, out of his expression and suddenly there's a hand on his cock, blessedly giving him relief. Zoro slumps forward and pants into Law's shoulder when the second hand drifts from his chest to his back, moving to stimulate his perineum and balls, and sometimes slipping against his anus. Never penetrating, despite the throaty moan that slips past Zoro's lips every time he touches. It's over both too soon and not quickly enough and Zoro rises up a little to meet Law in a filthy kiss with too much teeth and too little finesse but it makes Law growl deep in his chest, the thought of claiming someone so eager to meet him halfway and chase him to the end sends a rush of excitement through his body and even if Zoro just came, he's hellbent on having his way with Law. 

They spend the next 40 hours defiling every surface in the room and learning each other's pleasure spots. 

Law takes great pleasure in marking Zoro's back in a myriad of red and blue stripes from a small, suede flogger and Zoro enjoys choking on Law's cock to an extent where Law is scared that the human will die of asphyxiation. Bur Zoro, without fail, goes down on him with unprecedented enthusiasm and growls menacingly when Law tries to pull him off his dick. Since they're both in accordance on what needs to happen, Law comes down Zoro's throat with harsh curses and it doesn't take long for Zoro to be sinking down on Law's cock.

It's definitely thicker than any Zoro's had the pleasure of feeling. The rest of his life with this? A gamble he definitely did good on.  
He relishes the burn of straining muscles in his thighs, his arms, his ass, the different burn of claws marking their way over his back, the pinch and explosion of pleasure from weighted nipple clamps being released, the sharp, stabbing pain of being bitten and claimed all over.  
Zoro is utterly, thoroughly spent by the time Law lets off and declares they both need to sleep. He sleeps curled into a tattooed chest, breathing the scent of Law and sweat and sex, dreams of being taken apart meticulously and wakes to a tongue expertly distracting him from the cock ring that is being attached to his dick.

Half an hour later he's near delirious from his prostate being abused by long, clever fingers while he's tied up so good that he's no longer scared to let what he feels out. The ropes contain him as he screams the overload out, sobbing and heaving over dry orgasm after dry orgasm and Law praises him for taking it so well, for crying so prettily. There's a cool sensation of something being rubbed onto the bruises from yesterday's flogging and suddenly it burns, forcing tears into Zoro's eyes and a hoarse scream from his throat. It's not unlike menthol, Law explains patiently while massaging over the abused skin and muscle tissue, but with a much more intense kick. Zoro nods, the sting of the essential oil burning in his eyes and mucous membranes. Law kisses his tense neck, whispering praise and adoration into skin and hair and when he slowly pushes himself into Zoro's body he's met with barely any resistance and grateful nonsensical ramblings. 

They melt into one another, sweat and tears, saliva and semen drying on warm planes of skin and cool sheets, sticking everything together like it's meant to be. Zoro sleeps, exhausted and wrung dry nestled against Law's broadly tattooed chest. The outlaw captain holds on to his ( _his!_ ) lifemate, keeping an ear on his breathing and logs into the neural network to catch up with the crew.

Apparently Bepo and Penguin took it on themselves to turn in Zoro's bounty, _all 42 of the wanted posters Law had found and dismissed_ , and they are now on their way to Flevance. Law agrees that they all deserve a break and retreats from the neural network. The crew can leave the ship, he's staying with Zoro. 

They speak more on the matter of the bond, not that the actual connection will ever happen because Zoro is human, but Law proposes something insanely risky and stupid - they transplant their hearts into each other's chests. Seeing Zoro's face as he goes under, seeing the indisputable trust Zoro puts in his captain, his _life mate_ , almost has Law push the syringe with the counteracting medication to the narcotic into Zoro's veins and fuck him on the sterile operation bed. It's a close thing, too. But he doesn't, and instead Zoro rises with a small, new scar on his chest and a Zoro-typical singlemindedness to let Law know exactly how grateful he is.  
Zoro is entirely covered in Law's semen by the time he deems the message received. 

The crew return after three weeks of leave, one by one they trickle onto the Polar Tang, and when they take off Zoro patrols the atmospheric hatch and cargo bay to make sure no one will suddenly disappear. Law realizes that Zoro treats the ship as their den - and the crew as their Fledgelings.  
Thinking about it, Zoro has _always_ done that, Law just chalked it up to Zoro having weird human mannerisms and ignoring the part of Zoro's life spent on a Flevant colony.

Once they're safely traveling, coordinates set, he stalks down to where Zoro patrols dutifully and swallows the human down, humming and sucking against the hard length of Zoro's dick while the swordsman rhythmically clenches and unclenches his hands in Law's hair.  
"You are mine", he purrs against Zoro's hard abdomen and watches the flush on the human's cheeks turn impossibly darker.  
"I am", Zoro agrees and somehow they're back to business. Zoro doesn't show for bridge duty for three days, and neither does Law.

They're travelling through an utterly boring quadrant, Shachi and Ikkaku yelling at each other via neural network and vocal cords alike (much to the dismay of the remaining bridge crew), when suddenly their captain goes perfectly still while Zoro stares out of the main viewscreen hard, with an unreadable expression.  
What happens next is something Ikkaku removed from all traces of in the ship's data servers and security systems: Law jumps up, crosses the room in the blink of an eye and wraps his hand around Zoro's neck, both of them suddenly panting hard and absolutely unresponsive to any of the crew members.  
When Law starts tearing at Zoro's clothes Bepo calls for an intervention and he, Shachi and Ikkaku do their best to restrain Law,, who honest to god _wails_ , in absolute horror and distress over his mate.  
"The bond", Ikkaku suddenly says, running a scan on neural activity. "Zoro... they are bonded."  
"Yeah? They've been that way for a while now", Shachi answers.  
"No, not like this. It's the real thing", Bepo whispers. Ikkaku nods. "We better get them into their rooms and lock them in before Law kills any of us", she adds after a second. They manage to get them into relative safety without any of the other crewmembers noticing. They decide to play it by ear, whether or not the rest of the crew should know about it. It's none of their business, really, and they have accepted their captain's choice.

There'd been a weird sort of tingly feeling in the back of his mind for a while, but Law didn't dwell on it much - until he was bored out of his mind. He'd started picking at the humming sensation, the curling tendrils of affection and lust that seemed to encroach on his mindspace. And then he'd been hit by a tidal wave of longing and lust, memories and fantasies alike that had him strap Zoro to a bed and stick a small plug into his ass to keep him ready for whenever Law pleased. Memories of Law pressing up against Zoro, the sharp rise of arousal coursing through human veins and mirroring how Law had felt.

There'd been doubts of Zoro not being enough, being too weak, too pathetic, and Law had to make Zoro understand that no, if anythig, _he_ was the one undeserving of the attention and commitment. And like always, the most effective way to communicate was through getting naked and showering each other in pleasure and praise.  
This time around, they spent a week hiding in their rooms and when they emerged, Ikkaku declared they needed to take separate bridge shifts for a while. Which was fine by both of them.  
Her decree did not stop them from being overly suggestive in their thoughts.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I still love you guys so much, especially the commenters. Lookin' at you, rly. You're my drive to actually post! And my reminders 😂
> 
> Friendly reminder that I post about stuff on tumblr! It's https://carnivorousmossbeast.tumblr.com/  
> You can also find me on discord, it's (big surprise) CarnivorousMossbeast#7471


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SURPRISE! 
> 
> This isn't over because I had a lot of Ace feels lately and decided to rewrite the end. IM SO SORRY FOR BEING LATE!! 😣 I'm so sorry. Had to get my butt kicked by the lovely people on the GrimmIchi discord server because my anxiety about forgetting to post was so through the roof that I was about to delete the entire fanfic. To a happy new year that can't get much worse in terms of dumpster fire! Be safe everyone 🖤

Law would see them all torn to shreds, he swears, looking down at Zoro's badly burned and deathly still body. The human is still there, vaguely, now that the blocking tech has been thoroughly burned in the inferno.

He should have checked in more often. Should have focused on how Zoro all of a sudden could block out the bond so well.

But what's done is done, and now he's done all he can to save his bond mate. His other half.  
The blithering _idiot_ he melded to his brain, who contains Law's Flevant heart in a human chest. It looks so out of place but Law can't bring himself to return each heart to their rightful bodies. To him, they are where they belong, anyway.  
It's not too long ago that Zoro got their life bond stamped on, that he became part of Law's tribe. He doesn't want to admit that he might be losing this already. 

Flevants usually die with their life mate, so is this stabbing, pulsing pain he's feeling a sign of his end or a glimmer of hope towards Zoro's continued life? 

He thinks back to shared breath in confined spaces, quick and filthy handjobs in the small carrier craft during its descent onto a planet's surface, long and drawn out moments of intimacy melting into one another while waiting for atmospheric turbulences to pass so that they can return to the Polar Tang. More often than not with Zoro's prey knocked unconscious not three meters away.  
He takes Zoro's angry looking, burnt hand, takes in the skin peeling back in gray and black flakes, red inflammation and yellow-white surface wounds, weeping secretions to cool and keep the new skin wet to avoid it getting hard and painful.  
Zoro's pulse is weak, but steady. It's no longer like a _Hase's_ , a small rabbit-like creature that sometimes just dies because its little heart gives out from beating too fast, but not quite where an adult human would be either. It feels more like an infant's heartbeat, fluttering and working so hard to keep the frail body alive, with lungs just this side of too small to allow for any kind of movement and muscles too weak to support that anyway.  
The bond has gone eerily quiet, not like before the explosion where it just felt like it hadn't ever been there before, not like when the blockers got destroyed and Law felt the blazing hot pain for a split second before Zoro's human pain receptors got fried and everything went dark. No, now it's like static, there's something but he can't grasp it. How could he?  
He's knocked Zoro so far into a coma that his brain doesn't even know it's still alive. It also doesn't know it should be dead, so Law's really just... Keeping an ambivalence. Drawing out the conclusion in hopes of letting Zoro heal as much as possible in hopes of his mind taking in a physical body that isn't about to kick the bucket.

He turns abruptly and leaves, although not without stopping at the atmospheric control panel to check the temperature and humidity level one last time, before engaging the gravitational adjustment that keeps Zoro's body suspended in mid-air to avoid bruising of the delicate, newly forming skin and also to keep the skin grafts from tearing off. Law needs to wait a while longer to see how he takes to the new skin before he can start transplanting new pieces, carefully, to reduce the surely unfathomably painful scar tissue the human body would develop all over itself.

"I love you, Zoro-ya. The rest is up to you", he whispers hoarsely and closes the door softly. Law allows himself a second of emotion, of fear clawing at his heart, wearing his limbs down like lead and tethering him to the door. Forcing him back to his steady vigil.

Shoulders set and frown deeply engraved in his face he stalks up to the main office of the Federation. The prime minister and president are waiting for him, looking equal parts concerned and outraged.  
"It is my understanding that you were tasked with security, Doctor", the prime minister sneers. The president slaps her hand on the table. "That's enough, Reed!", she yells. "When the insurgent ship docked, it was _our_ personnel who didn't run it by the Heart Crew until the first dignitaries arrived. There's a leak in our system and I want it found!"

She's forceful. Her dark, almost black skin is beaded with sweat and despite the tone, Law can clearly see shadows under her eyes. It seems he isn't the only one who hasn't slept since the attack, although human physiology is much less forgiving on the matter. Her normally carefully braided and woven together hair has been pulled out of its buns (Law thinks humans call this particular style _space buns_ and he knows Zoro appreciates the joke, so he tries, despite himself, he _tries_ to let it lift his mood, even if it's just a tiny increment) and the colorful, strikingly contrasting makeup is smeared and smudged. He's never seen the president so frazzled and he's not sure she would normally allow for anyone to see her in this state.  
The prime minister, a tall, lanky fucker even by Flevant standards, stares at her in something firmly bordering between concern and downright terror. Law thinks he's a Xylicasmid, a race that is shockingly closely related to Terran insects (according to DNA), and they're not known for either diplomacy or patience. Whoever thought that a human and an overgrown walking stick would be a good team to run this shit show... Law wants to have words with them. Zoro firmly supports the president though, so there must be something to her. He's not too bad a judge of character on most days.

"We've interviewed the Princess of Alabasta, courtesy of your discretion", the president says, rifling through a stack of neatly scribbled on papers. She's a little old-fashioned that way, preferring ink pens and paper to Pads and document styluses, but it makes her all the more human. Law cherishes and appreciates it in a way that would make Rosinante lovingly pat his head and mutter about learning curves. It makes this fierce and take-no-bullshit woman softer around the edges. It suits her. 

_It reminds him painfully of Zoro._

"She is astoundingly well informed about the plans of Sir Crocodile", Reed says. The president shoots him a bone-chilling glare but he barely reacts. It's a good thing that he doesn't, Law thinks, because he's really not in the mood to listen to politicians bickering.  
"If that's all, I shall take my leave and hunt down the head of Baroque Works once and for all", he says and challenges a look at the president. She shrugs and pushes a manila folder halfway across the conference table.  
"Will you be leaving your human here?", Reed asks. Law can barely keep the smirk off his face when he turns towards the door, shouldering his longsword.  
"Zoro is mine, prime minister. And I keep what is mine close to me. The Polar Tang is more than adequately equipped for an injury of the current magnitude." He knows it's a low jab, but he's always been extremely put off by anything Xylicasmids do. They mate and then go separate ways, leaving their spawn to fend for themselves. He knows he's biased, however at this point there is not an ounce of will in him to care. When he offered Zoro a position among his crew he'd never planned on letting the green-haired menace go. The thought didn't sit right with him. He thinks of the permanent black stains that are half burned off and scarred over wobbly with dripping lines, a painful, mocking rendition of the deep, intimate suggestions they are. 

Unsurprisingly, the Strawhat crew joins the Heart crew in their quest to find Sir Crocodile.  
Robin and Law spend hours over the main mapping terminal, tracing transmissions and shipping routes, searching and digging and tugging on every string that pokes out from the veil Sir Crocodile and Baroque Works try to yank over the eyes of the known universe. 

Strawhat-ya and Sanji-ya take over the kitchen. Luffy to eat and Sanji to stress cook. Law doesn't think he's ever been on such a consistent eating schedule. He tells this to Zoro, whom he visits after every shift instead of sleeping. How could he sleep when the sole reason to come to bed is suspended in mid-air, with angry red burns covering his body.  
Sometimes, the little reindeer with the speech implant joins him at Zoro's side and wordlessly takes over checking the skin regrowth and disinfecting the wounds. Tony Tony Chopper works very differently from Law and the fresh smell of crushed herbs that permeates the room after the reindeer finishes his treatment is both soothing and stings.  
Chopper wouldn't dream of taking Zoro away. He's probably mostly doing this for Bepo, who often curls up around the little reindeer and talks about how Law takes the brunt of the responsibility for Zoro's condition. How none of this is Law's fault, really, how they need to find Sir Crocodile and tear him from limb to limb. 

Nami and Vivi spend a lot of time in the little garden Law built for Zoro. It's not much, just some green and a massive, ancient bonsai that Zoro takes immense pleasure in taking care of, a body of water with goldfish inside and a few rocks. They curl into each other, Nami braiding Vivi's hair while the princess scours every illegal blog for news on the situation on Alabasta. Sometimes Robin will join them, will pull both younger girls into her arms and forcibly remove any Pad from Vivi's fingers. Usopp tries to get Ikkaku or Shachi to become friends with him, while Penguin just avoids him altogether. Law can't blame him. As nice as their unbridled enthusiasm is, since there's no starting point or obvious trail to follow the energy grates on the Heart crew quickly.  
Zoro gets that way too, but if he's unbearable about it Law will dock at the closest planet and let his human rampage for a few days. They usually emerge quite a lot richer and with a Zoro who's more than content to sit and doze at Law's feet.

Days pass with absolutely nothing happening and Law is getting agitated beyond belief. They aren't making any process on tracking down Sir Crocodile and Zoro isn't healing much either. He knows human bodies are weak and take a lot of time to heal, but even with advanced med tech it takes forever for the burnt skin to be shed and replaced by thin, pink scar tissue all over the body.  
Law still keeps his mate under because he knows how much pain Zoro will feel, but not enough for the bond to be merely static. He found he could no longer bear the silence he had all to often craved before. The happy chatter and idle thoughts that accompanied him during waking hours and also permeated his rest, the very things he'd gripes about, had become his baseline, his status quo. And operating without it is impossible.  
He catches drifts and odd images, dreams he thinks, and tries to reach for them, to find a hidden message. A sign of life, anything, that belies Zoro's current state as a _vegetable_. At least that's what Zoro would call it, of that Law is certain. But these moments draw his attention away from important tasks, from taking Sir Crocodile's mind to pieces in order to find him and unleash the combined anger of two key politicians of Alabasta, their partner, their crew and his own revenge on him. 

Years of sharing a mindscape leads to overlaps, Law _knows_ that long bonded couples turn into carbon copies of each other, there's no telling where one ends and the other begins. But it's a process, supposedly an agonizingly slow process, one that he and Zoro would never experience in full because human life expectancy is around 95 Terra years, as opposed to over 1000 Terra years for Flevants under favorable conditions.

And yet he realizes that they've got so much in common already. He's antsy, pacing the cold, sterile hallways of the Polar Tang, cleaning their four swords painstakingly, excessively. Meditating to the soothing noise a whetstone makes on metal, of microfiber cloth on polished surfaces. He finds himself drinking less coffee than he would have six months ago, and catching more cat naps on the pillows Zoro collected from various planets. They don't have to be particularly pretty, they just have to be big and squishy for the human to sit or lounge or sleep on. And now Law curls up on them and deeply inhales Zoro's scent that is forever worked into the variety of fabrics. He notices that especially the larger ones, those that Law can comfortably lay down on without having to crouch awkwardly or risk his limbs dangling off and brush against the cold floor, seem to be favored by his mate. He thinks there might be an underlying thoughtfulness but perhaps Zoro's just a glutton for comfort. Not that he normally minds the cold, but when he's trying to bury himself in the memories of Zoro, they're always warm. 

Human bodies are incredibly wasteful that way, radiating heat like a star. Although Law has, on occasion, enjoyed this particular quirk of Zoro's. Placing his cold hands against a warm, firm abdomen is one of his greatest pleasures, for one thing the way Zoro's body heat practically melts the chill in his veins feels absolutely wonderful, and the other is the tiny _eep_ noises Zoro desperately tries _not_ to make. _Especially_ around other people. 

Strawhat Luffy corners him one night, his youthful face unusually serious, almost drawn.  
"I know it's hard to lose a bond. To have it hang there, in limbo. It was touch and go with one of my brothers for a while, but he made it."  
"A brother?" Law cocks his head and stares at Luffy, hard.  
"Firefist Ace. The Federation thinks he's dead which is good. But he isn't."  
"Wasn't he beheaded and burned?"  
"Beheaded no, burned yes. But his mother was from Muspel, so fire doesn't hurt him as much. It was bad enough for a while." Sanji, the blonde Mera constantly clad in a skintight black suit that probably has surface hydration tech worked into it (now that Law thinks about it), answers. Wherever he came up from. Law doesn't startle, but it's close.

They draw him into the galley and suddenly he's seated at one of the prep tables with two rice balls in front of him. He looks at Sanji, questions plastered all over his face.  
"I've yet to meet a Flevant who dislikes them", the blonde man shrugs and starts gathering knives and cutting boards and a massive basket of fruits and vegetables. Law sees qonet, a small, emerald colored fruit Zoro adores. He calls it a bastard between a pomegranate and a plum and takes vindictive pleasure in eating them suggestively enough for Law to have the phantom feeling of Zoro's mouth and tongue on his testicles.  
He shakes off the memory and grabs his meal. He _likes_ rice balls well enough but it's more a thing of comfort than the actual flavor and texture. At least that is until he bites into it and tastes a creamy, fresh vegetable medley with odd pieces of fish in between. It's the best thing he's eaten in a while.  
The treat disappears quickly enough and he takes the second one, hunger settling in his stomach all of a sudden, and misses the amused looks Sanji and Strawhat Luffy exchange. 

"Does Torao have any clue what he'll do with Zoro? He's a good man to have at one's back", Luffy says.  
"Well, if I could get access to Ace's medical files I might be able to retrace the stages of healing he went through", Law muses. "The son of Gold Roger must have been at least part human. If I can see how much support from the Muspel genes he needed to survive I might be able to alter Zoro's genome enough for his body to be able to heal."  
Luffy is out of his seat faster than Law can react and running down the hall yelling for his Elur Oreinak friend. Sanji smiles softly, but his expression morphs into a hard frown again after a few seconds and he turns back to his task.  
"Are you bonded, Sanji-ya?"  
"Don't you know we are fickle creatures with only passing fancies?", the cook chuckles, but his gills flutter under the hydropacks. He's in emotional turmoil and Law will milk that knowledge.  
"I know you pretend to lust after the princess and her entourage. But it's merely an elaborate spectacle to distract from what is truly close to your heart." Law finishes the second rice ball and picks a few fallen grains from his shirt.  
Sanji glares daggers at him but says nothing and eventually turns to resume his cooking preparation. 

They sit in silence for a while, Law letting his mind go blank by focusing on the chopping and clanging noises from Sanji's workstation when the Mera suddenly says: "You're not wrong. I just never thought anyone would see it."  
"So are you bonded?" Law places his elbows on the table and weaves his fingers together before placing his chin on the makeshift stand. Sanji shakes his head, corners of his mouth turned down. He doesn't have to ask whether that's something the cook wants, because that much is obvious. He's just sure if he wants any involvement with the emotional life of the Strawhats. Sanji, however, decides that Law has no choice on the matter.  
"Luffy knows, I'm not sure he understands what it means", he chuckles darkly. "He's not the brightest bulb, is he?", the Flevant says.  
The Mera shakes his head in a way that his hair falls to cover his eyes. Law knows the despair, but doesn't say anything. His and Zoro's struggles are their own and no one has a right to them.

They spend a few more minutes in silence, Sanji refills Law's _lugoru_ without prompt and the seasoned captain enjoys the hot, bitter drink shaking any sleepiness from his system. He rises, thanks the cook and makes his way back to the mapping terminal. There must have been something he's missed.  
On a whim (more line a nagging, insistent feeling that he's forgotten something important, but he is not admitting that, not even to himself in the current privacy of his mind) he stops by his room and picks up Zoro's work pad. Why the human doesn't use one for everything and simply encrypts it is beyond Law but Zoro just shrugs when asked.  
Law has settled for it being a Zoro thing and doesn't pay it much mind - normally - but right now he's glad for the pad being almost sterile of Zoro's personality and life, just full of brief reports on past bounty hunting missions. A few notes on every person he's preyed on, and Law has to fight to remain tethered to his task because Zoro hunts these people for _him_. Flevant instincts have his blood roiling with pleasure and lust, cock stirring in the confines of his trousers. He reaches the time when Zoro would take time off for hunting, back when he'd first joined the Heart crew.

The reports are less detailed, merely consisting of the planet where he picked them up, whether or not they were handed over alive and the amount he got paid. That is until he reaches a file that contains well over two hundred targets.  
According to this file Zoro got himself stranded on Whiskey Peak, an infamous station in the outer rim of the Goohlour nebula, where he encountered a bounty hunter organization trying to recruit him. He loves Zoro dearly, but _Bar Clockwork_?  
He remembers Penguin and Ikkaku snickering among themselves when they'd first picked Zoro up as a hitchhiker for being not the brightest bulb.  
Seeing what he sees now, even the thought comparing Zoro to a light bulb seems outrageous. He's more like a live wire that sometimes manages to spark.  
The feeling of fondness bubbling up in his chest isn't unwelcome, and he stews in it. There are more notes in the file, and he skims over them. Apparently Baroque Works has one of their main seats in that station, so that's where they're going to start. He takes the pad to Robin's makeshift office, but she isn't there. The entire ship is oddly quiet compared to the usual chaotic ruckus of the Strawhats. Zoro always says something about leaving children unattended and suspicious silence, but Law isn't worried. Not yet. Ikkaku keeps a digital eye on everyone at all times and she's very thorough.

 _Captain, there's an untagged ship in hailing distance moving slow_ , her voice echoes through the network.  
"Keep an eye on them. We're not intercepting or initiating contact", he orders and turns to make his way onto the bridge. Almost the entire Strawhats Crew is in front of the viewing screen, sans Luffy and Chopper. Robin is busy typing on the communication terminal, Nami has Vivi wrapped tightly in her arms, but looks over at the sliding door and says "Captain on the bridge". It's a quote from an old Terran sci-fi series that Zoro loves dearly. Law thinks it's a little strange, especially the early versions of aliens, but it speaks volumes about human creativity and resolve, even if their idea of intergalactic politics is nowhere close to reality. Usopp is tinkering with a strange device that Law has never seen before and continuously exchanging glances with Robin.  
"What's going on here?", he asks after a beat. His own crew look a little haggard and shrug, unused to an ally crew bullying them away from their stations for a personal task, while Robin lifts a finger as though she's telling him to shut up. Law settles in his chair, pulls up the map of their quadrant and starts plotting a course to Whiskey Peak. Nami tugs the Alabastan princess over to the captain and offers insight and surprisingly thoughtful route alternatives, piggybacking off gravitational fields and avoiding being singled out by an almost random appearing course.

Despite being much longer in terms of actual distance, they'll reach Whiskey Peak almost fifteen Terra days earlier. If this is the Strawhat's normal way of travel he has no more questions about why their appearances seem randomized and why they are pretty much untraceable.  
Suddenly the communications terminal springs to life and Robin looks oddly pleased. The screen lights up and Law faces one of the more legendary people in the entire universe, Gold Roger's son Portgas D. "Firefist" Ace. Centuries of training to keep his face in check are the only thing that let his jaw remain firmly where it is instead of anywhere on the floor.  
"Robin, Nami! Princess!", the image yells. Another head pushes itself into the picture. It's the missing rebel prince of Goa, Ikkaku confirms with biometric image processing.

The Strawhats have a lot of friends, unusual friends, it seems. Powerful allies, too. 

"Where's Luffy?", Ace asks. Sabo, the Goan, squints at the bridge.  
"That's neither the Merry nor the Sunny. The fuck did you do this time?!" Ace rubs his eyes and leans forward, making a "huh" noise.  
"The Heart Crew was so generous to lend us their aid while we pick a bone with Sir Crocodile. And Luffy was in the galley with Sanji, I'm sure he'll be around soon."  
"Has the Fishman made his move yet?", Ace asks, grinning like a madman.  
Robin merely pinches the bridge of her nose. "Boys", she says calmly, "this is neither the time nor the situation to give Sanji the third degree. Luffy doesn't know what to do with a person who wants him as their life mate. He's barely no longer a fledgling. And Sanji respects that. I'm keeping an eye on everyone." The two pirates who have been considered dead for the better part of ten Terra years nod somewhat appeased and make themselves comfortable.  
"Besides, you two don't get to judge. You got _married_ and haven't told Luffy yet!", Nami scolds them.  
"It's not right to do it like this", Sabo protests. "He's our little brother, we should tell him in person!"  
Law frowns at the implication, because it would mean that Ace and Sabo aren't who they are known to be.  
_Family of choice_ , Vivi explains in the neural comms. _I haven't quite figured it out myself but they grew up close to where Shanks has his prowling grounds. They all wanted to become pirates but explicitly not with Shanks' crew and not with one another either. Then Sabo got involved with a warlord, got attacked and had trauma induced amnesia for almost fifty years until Ace was supposedly executed. Luffy got Ace out, Chopper kept him somewhat alive but it wasn't until Sabo suddenly hailed them from a tiny craft he'd hijacked that they'd been able to save him._  
Law stares at the happy couple hard, both jealous and relieved. For one thing he misses Zoro, the steady warm presence at his side and the hot and filthy entity he is in their own quarters. Tied to the mattress, hung from the four poster bed, strapped against the wooden cross or to the spanking bench, and seeing Ace and Sabo have each other even if they're _both_ supposedly dead stirs an ugly emotion behind his sternum. For another, he's glad they have each other. He remembers how everything just clicked in place after a while with Zoro. It's the most wonderful thing in the known universe.

"You wouldn't call if you didn't have any news on the situation at hand", Ace starts, slightly indignant face falling into a serious frown. "How bad is it?"  
"It's pretty grim", Robin says. "we're actually asking you two to join us for now. Captain Trafalgar is down his best fighter and we need to take up extra security measures to keep Vivi safe."  
"Last I heard you were seen at that peace conference that got blown up, and if you're with the Heart Crew you're still reasonably close to Orva. We're six clicks out towards the Tura'ih asteroid belt."  
"It was closer to eight clicks", Nami says, crossing her arms. The two pirates exchange confused looks.  
"They're asking you to pack your essentials and transport aboard", Law says, stepping into the picture.  
"Were you aware of this plan?", Sabo asks tentatively. Law snorts and shakes his head. Ace looks oddly apologetic, but Law waves him off.  
"Didn't expect any different", he explains. "Besides, Robin is correct. We do need every hand we can get."

Getting two infamous, dead pirates settled on the Polar Tang is a surprisingly quick affair. Sabo and Ace keep their belongings rounded up apparently and always expect having to leave. They live their life on the run from being recognized, never stay long in one place. Law learns that they keep a small Armada of small crafts scattered throughout various asteroid belts, nebulae and planetary debris rings, anywhere where regular tracing tech can't find them. Scratch that, _no_ tracing tech can find them if they don't send a beacon. Or give out their location. 

They merge seamlessly into the chaos of the Strawhats and at the same time possess enough restraint and discipline to act as a buffer between the opposing forces that are the Heart Crew and Luffy's assortment of madmen.  
The trip to Whiskey Peak remains uneventful, and even if Law could never chart a course as chaotic as the one Nami found, he can appreciate the intimate understanding she has of quantum physics and the Polar Tang's capabilities. It's a piece of art, really. He never asks where she learned it, doesn't ask Ikkaku to dig into it either because Nami sometimes has the same far away look Zoro gets when they get in touch with anything that trails back to the Wanoan colony. Humans are susceptible to trauma in ways he isn't sure he'll ever understand.  
Flevants are taught that emotion, especially love, comes at a steep price and he's not sure he still keeps track of how much he's been made to pay. 

Zoro remains still, the dermal restoration stimulator running its course and returning his skin to the softness Law has claimed as his own. The scarring is still bad, the tribal tattoos unsalvageable, and it pains Law that he can no longer read Zoro's life injected on his skin.  
The few nights he can't stand to be in the hot and humid room where he treats Zoro, he curls up on their bed, wrapped around a display pad full of pictures and recordings of Zoro. The aching in his heart won't dissipate. 

Two days before they're due on Whiskey Peak, Ace finds his way into the burn unit.  
"Chopper said you might want some insight on the healing process for a human", he says. Law blinks, drops onto the backless seat and picks up a small medcorder. Ace takes that as confirmation and starts talking about special protein markers and mutated genomes.  
It's a bit confusing, mostly because Ace apparently has no idea about medicine, but Law gets the gist.  
"May I draw a genetic sample from your marrow?", Law asks. Ace nods and turns around. Since he's not in a habit of wearing shirts (another painful parallel to Zoro), there's no awkward fumbling or stilted silence over the nudity.  
He sprays the local anesthetic generously on the area around where the extraction needle will go. Ace keeps an impassive face as the needle punctures his skin and phases through the hipbone. The sample is in almost perfect condition and he starts working on analyzing it straight away. He finds the specified marker easily enough and goes to draw blood from Zoro to try and recreate the anomaly. It's then when he notices that Ace is still there, fast asleep sitting at the wall facing the foot end of Zoro's bed.  
"Is there anything else you need?", Law asks, clearing his throat. Ace startles awake and stares at him bleary-eyed.  
"A band-aid", he says after a second of consideration. Law picks out the most hideous, gaudy steri strip (without regeneration tech) he can find and plops it on the back turned to him.  
"Off you go", Law says and Ace smirks before taking his leave.

Whiskey Peak is thoroughly unhelpful, almost deserted. Apparently the owner, some bigshot entertainment mogul, pulled almost all his people a few months ago, leaving the station pretty much deserted. The few remaining stragglers have no idea where the staff could have gone, so they set course to Alabasta. It's not ideal, but at least Law can offer medical relief and they can organize goods transport with Vivi. Now that the Federation is aware of the drought, help is readily available. 

When they approach the small planet, however, they're met with a nasty surprise. The blockade, that had been enforced by a staggering amount of toll ships, has been replaced by a force shield. Vivi is devastated.  
Ace takes one good luck at the hexagonal shield projections and says: "I'll bet my hat that those things are size restricting. Anything larger than a skimmer won't be able to pass through. If you have a skimmer, Captain Trafalgar, we can go down to the surface incognito."  
"Not here", Robin says. "But over the South Pole desert perhaps.. No one ever goes there."  
"The dusty plains don't have water. Ever", Vivi explains. "There have been many attempts throughout history to make a lasting settlement there, but even with the help of modern technology it's proven to be pretty much impossible to populate. With the drought... No one will be there. I'm seriously doubting anyone's checking the report nodes either. Nothing lives there."  
"Sanji can't go there if it's so dry", Luffy interjects. "What will we eat if our cook can't be with us?"  
"For Nami-swan and Robin-chan and Vivi-chwan I'll gladly suffer through a little dehydration! Dehydration is nothing in the face of my undying love!!"  
Something stirs at the back of Law's mind, a very clear feeling of _oh hell no_ and of course it had to be someone who annoys Zoro to get any kind of reaction out of him while he's out. Law snorts to himself.  
"Once we've got a scout team at the surface I'm sure Ikkaku can figure out the one frequency to set up contact and then we can work on a portal to a transport dimension. If it's stable enough we can put the Tang in there and work from there instead of trying to hide on the planet Baroque Works is trying to steal", he says and Sabo nods, tapping his chin thoughtfully. Robin looks downright excited, which is a little worrisome, but it's the best shot they have.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Really, honestly, thank you. For being here, for the kudos, for paying attention to me and my weird brain.

**Author's Note:**

> If you made it to here, kudos!  
> And perhaps drop me a kudo and a comment, while you're at it?


End file.
